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Tennis CONNECTS<br />
teachers and<br />
students<br />
By Megan Patterson<br />
Washington State<br />
University student, former<br />
PAST&E employee<br />
I didn’t be<strong>com</strong>e involved with<br />
Portland After-School Tennis &<br />
Education (PAST&E) until I came<br />
home this past summer after my<br />
sophomore year at Washington<br />
State University in Pullman,<br />
Wash. When I was offered<br />
the job, I thought it was too good to be true. Working<br />
hands-on with young, underserved students from diverse<br />
backgrounds is important to me.<br />
It is also important to note that I am not a tennis player<br />
and have little experience playing. I was in tennis lessons<br />
when I was in elementary school but not much else besides<br />
that. During court time at PAST&E, I think I learned<br />
just as much as the students did. And of course it was<br />
always a running joke that I would lead the demonstration<br />
one day. I was so nervous!<br />
Luckily you don’t have to be a tennis player to see all<br />
of the benefi ts the sport can provide. Over the summer, I<br />
saw the coordination in ALL of the students improve drastically.<br />
I noticed a lot of the children lose excess weight<br />
over the summer. We started every tennis session with<br />
a warm up around the court and then we moved into<br />
Tennis BRINGS joy to schools and <strong>com</strong>munity<br />
By Dr. Larry Horton,<br />
Sweet Home School District Superintendent<br />
Tennis had been virtually nonexistent in Sweet Home, Ore., for a number of years. Of the<br />
six tennis courts that belonged to Sweet Home School District before their removal in 2008,<br />
two had been closed by the district’s liability insurance <strong>com</strong>pany and the other four were<br />
very close to closure. After a process of fundraising and construction, we now have four<br />
new tennis courts that were strategically placed so that our junior and senior high schools<br />
can use the courts as part of both schools’ physical education programs. The courts are<br />
also directly across the street from the Boys & Girls Club. This means the Boys &<br />
Girls Club can use the courts as part of their after-school and summer programs.<br />
In addition to the four new courts, we are planning on painting four Quick-<br />
Start Tennis courts at each of our fi ve elementary schools. Fourteen members of<br />
the Sweet Home School District staff in addition to the Boys & Girls Club staff<br />
attended a school tennis in-service training hosted by <strong>USTA</strong> Pacifi c Northwest<br />
staff. The major focus at this training was to learn how we could bring tennis<br />
into our schools. At the training participants learned introductory games to tennis<br />
and were given tennis curriculum that can be used with their students. They also<br />
received information on the QuickStart Tennis format and tennis equipment that<br />
the kids were able to use immediately.<br />
That core group of teachers is very excited about tennis. The physical education<br />
instructors at both the junior high and the high school are now including tennis into<br />
their spring lesson plans. The Boys & Girls Club is also looking at incorporating<br />
tennis into their spring after-school program as well as their summer program. They,<br />
along with all fi ve Sweet Home School District elementary schools, are including<br />
the QuickStart Tennis format into their physical education programs. I see the<br />
possibility of some day adding a varsity tennis program into our high school and<br />
even friendly <strong>com</strong>petitions at our junior high school and between our elementary<br />
schools. The smiles of the students say it all: Tennis is fun!<br />
Tennis is a sport that can be taught at all grade levels and to all ability levels.<br />
It is a life-long sport that can be played by all ages. Ultimately, that is what I<br />
want every student in the Sweet Home School District to know. Tennis is a sport<br />
which they can play for the rest of their lives with family and with friends. It is a<br />
healthy activity that is affordable and can truly provide joy and the opportunity for<br />
quality family time. I plan on tennis being a regular part of our students’ physical<br />
education programs every year. �<br />
For more on Sweet Home’s new tennis courts, please turn to page 15.<br />
an exercise we call “Up’s” where we balanced and then bounced<br />
foam balls on our racquets. It’s fun to think back on the progression<br />
of the children. By the end of the eight-week session we had all<br />
of the participants on mini nets, hitting foam balls back and forth.<br />
Psychologically, I saw each child’s confi dence increase. Every<br />
day they were more excited for the group game or for their own<br />
private time with the tennis coach. Individual attention was what<br />
each child wanted and it was awesome to be able to provide that.<br />
Sometimes a student’s frustration would get in the way of sportsmanship<br />
and they would be asked to go chill out on the bench and talk<br />
[ Continued on page 31 ]<br />
www.pnw.usta.<strong>com</strong> � WINTER 2009/10 TENNIS TIMES<br />
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