CONCORD, NH- Nick Zeras, a beloved physical education teacher at Concord, NH’s Broken Ground Elementary School, does whatever it takes to give his students a diverse learning experience. He exposes his current third to fifth graders to countless sports and physical activities while introducing them to the basics.

A “tennis guy” himself, Zeras has been teaching the sport to his students for more than 10 years and loves every minute of it. Working with a limited budget, he lowers volleyball nets down to tennis height and sets up a few pop up nets, giving everyone the opportunity to play.

“I grew up hitting against my basement wall and having a bunch of fun, and I wanted these kids to have that experience,” Zeras said.

“Sometimes in the past, when I taught younger kids, we’d use foam balls and badminton racquets if the regular racquets were too big for them. ADVERTISEMENT I didn’t care, I just wanted them to play. As long as they were using a racquet to control the ball, it was important to me they got that experience,” he said.

In the summer of 2017, Eric Driscoll, New Hampshire and Maine Tennis Service Representative (TSR) for USTA New England, organized up a district-wide clinic where he introduced USTA’s new youth brand, Net Generation, to the Concord schools as well as Concord Recreation.

Net Generation currently gives providers free tennis curriculums and activities for young players that are currently being used all over the country.

Driscoll, along with high school PE teacher Hayden Daly, encouraged Zeras to register for Net Generation to implement programs into his classroom.

After passing the background check and securing Concord Recreation as a community partner, Zeras was in line for a brand new equipment package that comes with completing the process. Included were a pre-programmed Net Generation tablet, a luggage bag and new racquets and balls, among other items.  

“I had a lot of old racquets and a limited budget, so if I could get some extra racquets or equipment on the side, I figured it would be a great idea,” Zeras said. “I’m also involved with USA Wrestling and we have background checks every two years, so I just threw my information in and was excited for the brand new gear and the curriculum.”

Thanks to the recreation department signing on so soon after, Zeras became the first person out of thousands in the country to complete the entire Net Generation registration process.

“To be honest, I was shocked to hear I was the first person to finish everything. I guess I’d say it’s a pretty cool claim to fame,” Zeras said.
Zeras was rewarded with a trip to the US Open for a day of on-court professional development.

“It’s great to have Nick as the first teacher in the country to complete the Net Generation registration,” Driscoll said. “His passion for bringing tennis to kids through PE is evident, and I’m confident his kids will continue to love learning tennis from him and through their recreation department.”

And soon after Zeras became a Net Generation provider, he became an advocate as well. 

“The curriculum really makes it so you don’t even have to be a PE teacher to understand the language and figure it out. You can simply follow the guidelines of what they’re telling you to do and you’ll understand it,” he said. “That’s honestly one of the best things about it- everything is broken down step by step for you, you just have to bring your personality.”

“The kids really enjoy playing tennis and get excited about it,” Zeras added. “Bringing it into the classroom exposes them to something new they might not get anywhere else, and I look forward to giving them those opportunities.”

To register for free as a provider, log on to www.netgeneration.com. With questions, contact your local TSR. Information can be found at www.usta.com/tsrs.