GACTA Community Tennis Programming
SE Boys and Girls Club Tennis (2008)
In 2008, GACTA launched a new tennis program at the McPherson Recreation Center (1717 SE 15th Street) for members of the SE Boys & Girls Club. Sessions were held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., from February to end of April. We also expanded the program to the Woodlawn Unit of the Boys & Girls Club (located at 331 SE 20th Place, about one mile west of McPherson), with sessions on their outdoor basketball courts from 3 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the same days. We purchased some junior racquets for this program, and obtained some donated racquets and tennis balls. There were over 30 participants at McPherson, with an additional 20 participants at the Woodland Unit. Our volunteers had a wonderful time with this terrific bunch of kids. A big thank you goes to all our volunteers: John Bennett, Darla Chmiel, Ron Chmiel, Alice Criner, Sandy LeVeen, Marie Mayer, Bobbie Mehan, Bonnie O’Brien, Mike Oransky, Christine Shurtleff, Libby Smith, and Mike Weiss.
SE Boys and Girls Club Tennis
Extended Day Tennis Program in Alachua County Elementary Schools (2009-2011)
The Extended Day Enrichment Tennis Program was initially funded as a pilot project by GACTA, and was begun in three local elementary schools during the spring of 2009. It was designed to test the theory that if qualified tennis teachers are paid to actually teach the after-school programs, rather than rely on school personnel to do this, the program will be far more successful in introducing young children to tennis. The tennis teacher would be in a better position to recruit the most interested students into additional tennis activities, such as Junior Team Tennis. Three area schools participated in the program during the spring semester, and the students and after school personnel uniformly raved about its value.
A USTA Recreational Tennis grant was awarded to GACTA during the summer of 2009, to expand the EDEP tennis program from three to ten elementary schools during the 2009-2010 school year.
EDEP Tennis Program at Rawlings
For the 2010-2011 school year, GACTA received a USTA Florida Share the Love grant to continue our EDEP tennis program. Also this year, the Alachua County Choices program signed on as a partner, to encourage children to participate in tennis as a healthy lifestyle choice. The county’s participation has allowed the after school tennis program to expand to almost all the elementary schools in the county, serving around 300 children.
Sadly, CHOICES pulled their funding of the program at the last minute, so this program did not continue through the 2011-2012 school year.
Junior Competitive Tennis Mentoring (2009-2010)
This pilot program received initial funding from The GACTA, and was begun June, 2009. The program consisted of a “pay it back” system in which each junior player was assigned a mentee and a mentor. In return for weekly hitting sessions with his/her mentee, the player was entitled to a free session with his/her mentor, usually a college player or coach, who was reimbursed for their time by the program. The mentoring program received excellent reviews from the participants, parents, and coaches. As tennis tends to be an individual sport, we felt there was a need for junior competitive tennis players to be encouraged to become a part of the tennis community as a whole. Encouraging sportsmanship and good court behavior are important in the development of the junior player, and they can benefit greatly from being placed in the position of being responsible and a role model to younger, less-experienced kids. In addition, the mentee can benefit greatly by receiving affordable hitting time with a more experienced player.
Adaptive Tennis (2010-2011)
Free adaptive tennis open houses have been offered at Jonesville Tennis Center since spring, 2010. They are open to children of all ages and all abilities. A Share the Love grant from USTA Florida and volunteers from the tennis community (thank you Cribb family and Johnny Johnston!) and UF have allowed this valuable program to continue.
Adaptive Tennis Open House at JTC
Tennis and Tutoring
With the opening of the Jonesville Tennis Center, we have an opportunity to reach out to the children of our community in great need of productive after-school activities. Although there is a common perception that the residents of Jonesville and the area west of I-75 in general are affluent and therefore not in need of subsidized after-school programming for their children, this is simply not true. There is a significant population of disadvantaged children who definitely need help. With this program, not only can we introduce tennis to a group of children who might not be familiar with it, we can provide an environment where they can receive help with their school work as well.