On Saturday, Feb. 17, the Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Tennis teams held a clinic for children at the CHS tennis courts to help them learn how to play tennis. The clinic was originally started by CHS junior Astrid Petropoulos as a CAS project.The activity was held at the CHS tennis courts, and about 15 kids ages 10 and under arrived to participate. More than half of both teams were present.
During the clinic, the athletes’ main goal was to have a good time and to teach the children how to play tennis who have never played before. Each player felt tennis was a unique game which is why it was important to the teams to branch out their talents to the children. The clinic was free and open to all, but donations were accepted for the teams. The activity was announced to elementary schools in the area, including schools in Montclair and Pomona. The team felt that all of the children had a nice time, and will be happy to continue to put on the clinic, even after Petropoulos graduates.
“Throughout the clinic I was walking around the majority of the time checking in on each station, so I didn’t really interact with the kids too much,” Petropoulos said. “But I did take lots of videos and pictures, so that was nice. It was really great to see all of these kids who have never played before learn the sport and interact with the teams.”
Not only was the clinic an opportunity to help the children, but it also bonded each tennis team as they worked together to run it. The activity was run through stations that rotated. The boys’ and girls’ teams were put into different stations. They would start off learning to hit the ball and how to work the racket until they eventually were ready to participate in a mini tennis match. The athletes enjoyed working with the kids and sharing their talents with the new players.
“At my station, there was this little girl that was really funny; she was having a hard time hitting the ball,” junior Kristin Hernandez said. “I kept trying to help her and guide her on how to hit it but she just couldn’t do it. It was really cute and she ended up hitting it in the end.”
Overall, the CHS varsity tennis teams are very happy with the outcome of their clinic, and hope to continue on with it over time. The clinic will hopefully continue on through the next generations of the team due to the joy it brought them and the children by passing on the clinic as a new tradition and as an exciting new fundraiser, along with bringing awareness to the tennis teams as a whole.