Game, Set, Maestro for club's new coach
Rita Paczian with former club mate Shannon Paki after the pair cleaned up the local Thames Club Champs. Photo: Supplied.
Motueka Tennis Club's new coach Rita Paczian says there's a blank canvas to make her mark.
With 30 current members, she wants to be part of the driving force of revitalisation in the club with ambitions to one day build it up to the point they have a team to compete in the local interclub competition for the first time.
As a professional coach for almost two decades, she wants to bring her experience to the courts and bring in more young players into the space.
"Motueka is a fantastic place to play tennis. Not only is the climate good, but they have great facilities at the club," she says.
With plans to increase their offerings for busy families, she says it will be interesting to see who comes out of the woodwork.
As a current A-grade player for Richmond Tennis Club, she says it would be fantastic to one day represent her new local club.
Rita moved to Motueka in late 2022 from Auckland's North Shore, leaving behind an arts industry in strife as they battled the effects of a global pandemic.
As a globally acclaimed conductor, it was a story in the Motueka Guardian that got the ball rolling with tennis coaching again.
She says an article in March about her invitation to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall, which mentioned her tennis coaching past, saw the club approach her to be their new coach.
"Tennis is a great addition to music. Being a conductor is quite physical, and there's a lot of coordination with your hands."
Rita immigrated to New Zealand from Germany in 1994, having been a professional table tennis player as a youngster because it was more affordable than tennis.
But the skills were transferable, and by 2004, she was living in Queensland and trained as a tennis coach under Mal Murphy, the president and head of training of the Australian Tennis Professional Coaches Association.
From there, she was a coach at local clubs as she moved back to New Zealand, most recently assisting Deanne Alter at Northcote Tennis Club and Hugo Santos at the Snell Beach Tennis Club.
Rita's local coaching will be available from 8 May for players of all ages and abilities, for more information contact the club.