ERIN — On June 30, the Erin Tennis Club held its last junior youth tennis club event for the summer, which included a “last-day barbecue”.
The club ran the “try tennis program” for six weeks, and it will pick back up again for four weeks in September once school resumes.
“We were able to introduce children as young as four years of age to the sport,” explained Betty McEachern, the main coordinator of the program.
“The children learned some basic and fundamental aspects of the sport, but most importantly they had a fun activity to participate in for an hour each week with friends and new acquaintances.”
McEachern says a parent contacted her with a note about the program stating, “my daughter really liked it! And on a personal note, I think it was such an amazing thing to offer the kids.”
“We had less numbers [the last week], but we were reaching upwards of 30 participants in the weeks prior to that last week,” stated Grant Groves, vice president of the tennis club.
Junior youth tennis is a free public community program, welcoming all youth who are interested in participating and in trying out the sport. It is coordinated by club members, and has on-court help from parents and volunteers.
On Fridays from 5 to 6pm, children aged five to 10 had the court, while youth aged 10 to 16 had it from 6 to 7pm.
“We’re not training them, it’s not lessons. It’s kind of a drop-in so that the kids can get acclimatized to enjoying the fun of tennis, getting some fitness and meeting some new friends,” said Groves.
The children played tag games, dead ball and target games amongst others. Many parents of the children were in attendance each week as volunteers, which McEachern says made it a fun family affair.
With a high number of participants who were new to the sport and did not have the proper equipment, the Erin Optimists helped by donating $300 to help cover the costs of lender racquets so participants without their own could still join in.
“It’s a wonderful way for the club to engage and give back to the community,” stated Jason Skinner, another program organizer.
Officials said they can always use volunteers, and any volunteers are welcome. Contact the Erin Tennis Club or visit erintennisclub.com for information.
