By Mariana Rodas | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Coach Walter Shinn and Assistant Coach Rachel Gould organized a “kids day” on Nov. 18, a community outreach to get the tennis team involved with the community.
The kids were able to learn and play tennis with the Flagler men and women’s tennis teams. Approximately 20-25 kids age 10 and under participated. It was a free event at it was hosted in the Flagler Tennis complex.
The program was supported by the USTA and ITA.
The event featured the 10 and Under Tennis format. 10 and under tennis is a program which use kid-sized courts and kid-sized equipment.
The USTA is supporting Flagler by providing the right equipment to teach the kids. By using this format, the benefits are immediate, kids are exited to keep playing and it motivates them because they have fun instead of getting frustrated. It is a format that has been popular in Europe, and has been seen in top players such as Roger Federer.
This program is designed to aspire junior players to college tennis. The program takes place across the United States. It was the first camp presented by Flagler College and it helped the players share their game with the kids and this type of events are the ones that help bring the community together.
10 and under tennis is a great opportunity for the team and the coaching staff to help build tennis in the community and for the relationship between junior tennis and college tennis to grow.
Rachel Gould, assistant coach, organized the event and wants to keep on doing it every week. The plans are to continue reaching out to the tennis community by offering 10 and under tennis programming with Flagler´s coaching staff.
¨We hope to get more families involved and to raise excitement for the game of tennis ¨ Rachel said.
The 10 and under Tennis format will be a new addition to the junior clinics that Flagler offers on weekdays. They want to keep adding programs to promote tennis to grow in St. Augustine.
Please contact Rachel Gould, assistant coach, to know more about the upcoming programs.
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