H.I.T.S. Youth Program Spotlight: Riverbank Project A.C.T.I.O.N

The Riverbank Project A.C.T.I.O.N is a community-recognized after school education, enrichment, and recreation program serving approximately 30% of the youth attending the Riverbank Unified School District. The goal is to provide a safe and healthy environment that promotes academic enrichment and student involvement in the school and community through a variety of opportunities that help students build and develop a well-rounded character.

As part of this mission, all three elementary schools in the Riverbank Unified School District have been offering USTA NorCal’s H.I.T.S. programming for the past seven years as a pathway to introduce kids to tennis and support their personal development both on and off the court.

Monica Villarreal, Riverbank After School Program Advisor, has been an after school coordinator for 18 years and has been involved in the implementation of the H.I.T.S. programming since the beginning.

After learning about H.I.T.S. through the Stanislaus County Office of Education, which partners with local schools and the community to support quality education nearly all across the state, Villarreal and her colleagues knew it would be a perfect fit for their after school program for its emphasis on teaching kids both tennis fundamentals and life enrichment skills.

“All of our after school program activities align to the Quality Standards for Expanded Learning in California, and the H.I.T.S. curriculum ties right in with the focus on building life skills, encouraging healthy choices, promoting active and engaged learning, and character-building,” Villarreal said.

During a typical year, there are 40 students enrolled per elementary school site in the fall, about half who are first through second graders and half third through fifth graders. That is then followed up by H.I.T.S. 2 in the spring for kids to build upon the skills they learned in the first session, with 20 students enrolled per site.

“It is fun to see the students by the end of the program improve on their tennis skills,” she said. “It’s clear the students love the games they learn to develop their tennis skills, and they are having fun playing out there.”

Villarreal who grew up playing a little tennis when she was younger can relate and she shared that one of the things that makes the program successful each year is the support USTA offers with equipment grants for getting racquets, balls, and other swag, as well as the staff training.

“It is helpful to have the staff trained through the USTA, and it makes it easy to implement and teach the kids even if you have never played tennis before,” Villarreal said. “I also love how the program offers t-shirts and incentives because it really helps encourage the kids to stay motivated.”

And because the emphasis is on encouraging learning in a fun environment, Riverbank marks the end of each H.I.T.S. program with a jamboree for the kids to celebrate their achievements, practice their tennis skills, and enjoy a pizza party together.

“The students always enjoy the jamboree and it is so fun for them to showcase what they learned and see how much they improve,” she added. “We all look forward to it.”

After running H.I.T.S. programming for several years, it continues to be a success with tennis enrollment high each year across all three sites. Looking to build on this momentum year after year, Villarreal said they are hopeful to expand the program and bring a middle school into the fold in the future.

Overall, "The H.I.T.S. program is a quality program, and the Riverbank after-school programs plan to continue running it to support our goals,” she concluded.