First Year of Tennis Gets Ball Rolling with Students

Connie White teaches at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Junction City, Kansas. This will be her second year teaching PE and Health there to approximately 130 kids from pre-K to 12th grade. Last year White introduced tennis in all of her PE classes.  Tennis in elementary, middle school, high school and after-school programs is an excellent way to combat childhood obesity and reintegrate physical activity into the childrens’ everyday lives. 

White wasn’t a tennis player herself but picked up how to teach it from a fellow PE teacher where she taught in Arkansas who had all the Net Generation equipment. 

After the loss of her husband two years ago, White and her two children moved to Kansas from Arkansas where she took the job with the school. Her teacher friend in Arkansas encouraged her to make contact with Net Generation to get a program started in her new school. So she sent an email to get the ball rolling. 

The equipment arrived last December, and the timing couldn’t have been better. With the kids growing weary of COVID protocols and the concern about the virus, tennis proved to be a fun activity for them to focus on. 

She has found that the younger kids love the game and are so excited when they get to play. 

“The kids do great with the right-sized equipment. And the curriculum gives me so many ideas on how to continue to build their skills.”.

White said they seem to be the most inspired age group and want to continue to be better.