Proud Parents' Guide

Karen Ronney is an award-winning national coach and author, USPTA and PTR tennis professional, a National USTA RCW and QuickStart trainer, a high school tennis coach, a motivational speaker, educator and a parent. A former women’s pro tour player and NCAA All-Conference selection, she combined her playing and coaching skills to help others learn the game of tennis. She was recently recognized as the 2009 National Youth Sports Double-Goal Coach of the Year by the Positive Coaching Alliance, and she received U.S. Professional Tennis Association’s 2009 Community Service Award for the San Diego Division.

Education

Karen used her Bachelor of Arts Degees in Journalism and Communication to hone her writing skills. For 15 years, she was a staff writer for several prestigious publications including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Daily News. She combined her coaching, journalism and parenting expertise to write Proud Parents’ Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Coordination in Just 10 Minutes A Day, which has won 29 publishing awards to date.

Coaching, Parenting and Writing Are Perfect Partners

Karen shifted gears in 1992 trading daily newspaper deadlines for writing monthly features as a freelance magazine journalist. A mother of three, she also created this book after successfully playing Proud Parents’ Guide games with her own kids ages 17, 15 and 10, and hundreds of others. She won the 2004 Gold Medal for a Sports Profile from Parenting Publications of America for an L.A. Parent cover story on American soccer star Cobi Jones. She currently writes for many national publications including, L.A. Parent, San Diego Parent, San Diego Family, Zoo Nooz, Arizona Parent, Volleyball Magazine, Volleyball Monthly and City Sports Magazine.

Conducting Sports Seminars

Karen’s goal is to inspire and empower other parents to give their children that essential early athletic boost for success in both sports and life. Sharing her coaching knowledge and expertise comes naturally to Karen, who is a master coaching instructor since 1991. Since 1991, she has led hundreds of small and large group seminars as a representative of the LA 84 Foundation. She is a dynamic educator and public speaker on the mental, philosophical, psychological and emotional aspects of working with children. Other prestigious affiliations include being a National Special Olympic Coach, where she works with special-needs athletes. She also works closely with the United States Tennis Association.

Commitment to Coaching

Karen has over 25 years experience working with coaches and athletes in a variety of sports including tennis, soccer, volleyball, track, golf, basketball, baseball, softball and football. As a licensed United States Professional Tennis Association instructor, she is also the director of the Mission Trails Tennis Academy for kids ages 5 through high school.  Her equipment and clothing sponsors have included Head, Wilson, and MatchMate Racquets, New Balance shoes and Kew Gardens sportswear.

A Love of Languages

Growing up in a bilingual home where English and Italian were spoken gave Karen an appreciation for multi-cultural communication. She studied Spanish in high school, German and French in college. Her children currently attend a San Diego French immersion school where they are fluent in French and English, and are studying Spanish.

Sports and Art Add Spice to Life

Karen’s talents extend beyond the world of sports and coaching. She works in the San Diego Unified School District, and teaches art to elementary-aged students. Other art affiliations include being an assistant to instructor Joe Nyiri at the San Diego Zoo. Honors include having her pastel works on exhibition at the San Diego Children’s Zoo in 2004. She also has four murals currently on display at the Zoo.

Music Makes the World Go Round

Karen’s musical accomplishments include playing the piano, guitar and violin, the latter of which she plays in the San Diego Suzuki Strings Orchestra. She also taught beginning violin classes, and enjoys playing string instruments with her children, who excel at the violin and cello.

Karen Ronney currently lives in San Diego with her husband, Doug, a computer specialist and former college tennis standout, and their trio of budding young athletes.