Katherine Whitehead and budding tennis stars from Overby-Sheppard Elementary SchoolWhen the Quick Start Tennis program was offered to the city of Richmond’s elementary schools last fall, there was a need for volunteers to set up and help run the new activity.
The Richmond Tennis Association, in conjunction with the generosity of Elizabeth and Michael Frazier, got the ball rolling by paying for each school’s membership fee ($50) in the U.S. Tennis Association so they could have access to the Quick Start format and curriculum.
The community-oriented Fraziers donated the nets and other equipment for the project, which uses smaller courts and racquets with a foam ball – as well as a modified system of scoring -- to make it easier for the kids to learn the game.
But the physical education teachers at each school were going to have to have some help from the tennis community.
That’s where Slater Dunbar entered the picture and solicited help from the Richmond Suburban Ladies Tennis League.
“Elizabeth Frazier and Fred Bruner [past RTA president] asked me to create a volunteer force to help with the Quick Start program,” said Dunbar, who is the club coordinator for the Suburban League at Willow Oaks Country Club and plays on a USTA 3.0 team there.
Dunbar came up with Volley for Tennis, a slogan for volunteers who wanted to give their time to Quick Start in the schools.
“It was something of a play on words for volunteering and being a part of tennis to help the schools,” she said. “I thought the ladies would like it.
“So I approached each club in the Suburban League and asked them to promote this volunteer effort within their clubs and to their friends and neighbors, or anyone else in Richmond involved in tennis who had some time to give to the city school kids.
“It just seemed like a very worthwhile effort to promote tennis among children who hadn’t necessarily been exposed to it before.”
Volley for Tennis started in January and is scheduled to run through at least April 13, when a tournament called the Youth Aces Open is set at Virginia Commonwealth University. Some schools may continue the program after the tournament.
“I’d say the response was terrific for the first year,” said Dunbar. “I set up a web site where people could volunteer. People could pick a school that was close to them and work at that school. Or they could pick a day they had available and go to whatever school could use them.
“They would just go in and help the P.E. teacher. Teach the kids how to hold the racquet, or whatever the teacher had planned for the day.”
Some 40 women – and men -- have donated their time and energy to the effort since January and volunteers are still needed.
The web site is www.SignUpGenius.com/go/available, and anyone with tennis experience is encouraged to register.
With cold and snowy weather dominating the weather earlier this year, Quick Start could be held indoors in a classroom or gym
“That’s the great thing about Quick Start is that it can be taught pretty much anywhere you can set up the little net,” said Dunbar.
Dunbar added that the Volley for Tennis group has been to Fox, Overby-Sheppard, Swansboro, Linwood Holton, Carver, Broad Rock and John B. Cary schools. She’s hoping to expand the program into other schools next year.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” said Dunbar of her own efforts. “You watch these kids participate in something they’ve never been exposed to before. It’s a brand new learning experience for them, and you quickly see there are some children that are very gifted in their tennis ability.
“They have terrific hand-eye coordination, and they are particularly pleased with each other when they see how well one of their classmates performs at something they know is brand new to everybody. It’s really lovely to see the encouragement the children are showing to each other.
“That’s exactly what the sport of tennis is all about. Encouraging and seeing accomplishments in your friends. It’s so much fun being in a casual role with a child and just showing them, not only the sport of tennis, but everything that goes along with it. Etiquette, the rules, sportsmanship.”
Dunbar believes every volunteer will have the same feeling if they take the opportunity available at Volley for Tennis.
