Brandy Lynch, UCM Aid in Expanding Tennis to School Districts

“USTA is trying to promote tennis in schools with kids. PE is a great avenue to do that with the school/tennis program and all these equipment grants,” Lynch said. “Maybe one untapped resource is looking at PE/teacher education programs. My students at the university are going to every corner of the state. We’re able to partner with these districts and help get them equipment packs and the curriculum. And have someone model it who’s already gone through the training.

“I feel like that is more far-reaching. We’re sending them out. They’re meeting here, but then they’re taking it out with them. That’s the cool part.”

Lynch was initially introduced to USTA while she was a doctoral student at the University of Northern Colorado. She attended a SHAPE Colorado conference and learned about school/tennis workshops from USTA representatives there. Lynch was already intrigued about methods that increased content knowledge for the aspiring PE teachers she worked with. And was curious how much replicating professional-development experiences for in-service teachers would benefit them.

“So when I found out USTA did workshops I was like, ‘Hey, would you all come in and do a school/tennis workshop for my teacher candidates?’” Lynch said. “And they were like, ‘Absolutely.’”

Lynch proceeded to host a pair of USTA school/tennis workshops at Northern Colorado. One of those times she did some research, conducted interviews and collected data from participants.

“What we found is it was statistically significant their perceived competency in teaching tennis in a school environment increased after a three-hour tennis workshop,” Lynch said. “And if given the opportunity, they would be more likely to teach tennis than if they hadn’t done that workshop. And so I was like, ‘I feel like we’re onto something.’”

When Lynch began at the University of Central Missouri five and a half years ago, she connected with USTA Missouri Valley within a couple months of her arrival. UCM has likewise hosted two school/tennis workshops, and the majority of Lynch’s teacher candidates have participated in one. UCM also received an equipment set courtesy of USTA.

“My thought process and the big-picture, long-game idea is my students would learn enough and really understand how to advocate for themselves and their programs to reach out to USTA once they got jobs,” Lynch said. “‘Hey, I want to bring USTA to my district. I want to do some PE for all the teachers here.’

“Instead of my students were trained but then they went into places where there wasn’t any equipment, now we’re saying, ‘All right, cool, let’s get them equipment. And an opportunity to teach using that equipment so cooperating teachers see what it looks like and maybe will be more inclined to utilize the curriculum from Net Generation. And all the ways you can put that equipment to good use in a gym-type setting if you don’t have the outside space.’”