|
|
Mary Joe Fernandez gives a tennis tip to a young player
© Tammy Leathem
|
|
|
Former USTA President Alan Schwartz, Alderman Daniel Solis, Mary Joe Fernandez, Lizette Torres from the Gads Hill Center, Tony Gonzalez from Harrison Park and USTA Chief Executive of Community Tennis Kurt Kamperman.
© Tammy Leathem
|
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Referring to tennis as a sport the entire family can share, Latina tennis champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Joe Fernandez, captain and coach of the 2008 U.S. Fed Cup Team, urged more than 300 children from local community centers to take up the game. Children from the Pilsen area’s Gads Hill Center, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, the Carole Robertson Center for Learning and the Chicago Commons Guadalupano Family Center After School Program were in attendance to hear Fernandez, at Harrison Park, 1824 South Wood Street.
Fernandez’s appearance included a demonstration of QuickStart Tennis, an innovative new play format created to help children 10 years and under play and enjoy the game well into adulthood. The format is designed to help children find success from the very first swing. Soccer long has been the No. 1 sport among Hispanics, yet recent studies show Hispanics and African Americans are among the fastest-growing segments of new tennis players. The USTA is hopeful Hispanics will develop a passion for tennis in greater numbers, if exposed to it at a young age.
“Tennis is clearly a family game, and we Hispanics are all about family. In contrast to other sports where the older members of the clan can only watch from the sidelines, with tennis, everyone can play together. The best way to get hooked is to start early and be successful from the beginning,” said Fernandez. She added that “the QuickStart Tennis play format is tennis scaled to the size of the child, utilizing age-appropriate equipment, including smaller racquets, lower bouncing balls and smaller courts. By enabling kids to start playing right away, we are allowing them to learn as they play.”
QuickStart addresses one of the most intimidating scenarios for children learning to play tennis; playing on adult-sized courts with the same oversized and unwieldy equipment that their parents use, as well as using the same complicated scoring system. This combination can cause children to lose interest without ever really playing and experiencing the game, not to mention actually learning the skills necessary to succeed.
Children eight and under will play on a 36’ x 18’ court, with the length of the court equaling the width of a regulation tennis court. The set-up utilizes double sidelines as the baselines and from the baseline to the service line as the new sidelines. Racquets will be up to 23” in size, making them easier to control than larger-sized racquets. The balls, either a foam ball or a very low compression ball, will match the abilities of the child, bouncing lower and traveling less distance. This will enable the child to have proper swing technique, with the ball bouncing into their “comfort zones.” The net height will be 2’9” (three inches lower than regulation), making it easier for the child to continue the rally. Finally, scoring is brought down to a much simpler and manageable level.
For children 10 and under, the size of the court will be 60’ x 21’ (60’ x 27’ for doubles), with the length of the court extending just beyond the ends of each service area. The racquet will be up to 25” in size – still manageable, but increasing with the child’s body size and age. The ball, a low compression ball, travels a little faster and farther than the ball utilized by the 8-and-under group but will still have a lower bounce than the standard tennis ball. Scoring becomes best-of-three sets, with four games winning a set, and the third set being first to seven points (if necessary).
The QuickStart Tennis play format is currently being rolled out in over 1,000 facilities across the country, which are each expected to incorporate it within their existing 10-and-under programming. The USTA will also organize and implement training sessions, both to coaches and volunteers, including parents, to help early adoption of the format. In addition, the USTA has begun incorporating the play format into its coed recreational tennis league, USTA Jr. Team Tennis, and its tournament offerings. In succeeding years, it will continue to be implemented into programming with the goal of reaching all aspects of 10-and-under youth tennis, including tournament, lesson-based, recreational and team play.