One by one, kids appeared on the Lafayette tennis court, each volunteer assigning themselves to their own buddy. It was warm outside, filled with gently chilly breezes. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in sight.
As stressed as I was to finally begin my first tennis clinic and manage it all, I couldn’t help but feel emotional watching the kids curiously pick up a racket and ball, looking intrigued to experiment with tennis.
One of my biggest projects, which I’ve been working on for all of summer, finally became reality Oct. 27. My first tennis clinic for kids with special needs was meant to engage kids to play this sport which I am so dearly close to.
My idea for the project started towards the end of my sophomore year. I was donating gently used tennis rackets to Kids Enjoy Exercise Now St. Louis, a non-profit sports organization empowering youth with disabilities to play sports. I was donating my equipment through another organization called Second Serve.
Second Serve is a national youth-led organization which focuses on collecting gently used tennis equipment, then donating it to any places in need. I’ve been part of this organization for a year now, and through it, I became involved with KEEN.
As I came to donate equipment, I was able to talk with the KEEN directors. They mentioned that out of all the different activities run for the kids, they never had a tennis program, and with that, my idea occurred.
With the help of my parents and friends, I was able to begin planning and reaching out to volunteers to make this plan a reality.
I was lucky enough to be supported by the Washington University girl’s tennis team. I collaborated with Eliana Hannah, a player on the team, who helped with the entire event.
The night I met all the girls in person during early September on the WashU campus felt like a fever dream.
I remember how nervous I was to finally meet them. In a group, we all sat in a circle as I delivered a heart-felt speech about the importance of making a lasting impact on children and families. The players were so sweet and were very excited for the opportunity.
After meeting with the team and conducting many meetings with the board members of KEEN, it was only a matter of time before I could host the first clinic at the LHS courts.
The morning of, I came an hour earlier to start setting up. Before I knew it, the entire tennis team came and was eagerly waiting for the kids to arrive.
Each volunteer assigned themselves to a buddy and stuck with them throughout the day. Many of them had autism and were non-verbal, and for me, it was the first time working with that.
After a volunteer was assigned to a buddy, they began with choosing a tennis racket. I collected over 30 rackets from donations and each kid could take one or two home. Every kid had a different preference. Some chose bigger rackets, smaller rackets, dull or vibrantly colored rackets. I could tell each kid had their own favorite.
After each kid chose their racket, we all took one lap around the first two courts, or so I thought. As we ran together, kids sprinted all the way to the end of all the courts, some walked, some dashed, some took two laps rather than one. In that moment, I realized how different each kid is, yet at this event, everyone was able to be themselves.
The girls ran alongside their buddies. I could see the beaming smiles on their faces and heard giggles and laughter from everyone around. I could finally ease off the stress a little and my quickened heart beat began to decrease.
After a lengthy lap around the court, we began to engage in some physical warmup drills. Lunges, high knees, butt kicks and more, were just a few exercises that we did to get the body moving.
As soon as the warmup exercises were over, the kids didn’t hesitate to grab their rackets and begin to hit with their buddy.
I was expecting some kids to be disinterested in the sport, but to my surprise, everyone was actually engaged. One of the kids there, who rarely participates in these activities, played for almost the entire day, practicing serves and hitting the ball with his racket.
Throughout one hour, kids were running around with their buddies, not just playing with tennis balls, but chatting, sitting and most importantly, enjoying themselves.
I was surprised to hear from some parents that this is the most amount of exercise they’ve seen their kids get.
Out of all, I was beyond grateful by how the girls engaged with each kid, making sure that everyone was having fun and felt included.
I for one, was managing it all, and had to make sure everyone was comfortable and happy.
I couldn’t stay serious for long before spending time with the kids entirely, sitting beside them and throwing tennis balls for them to catch.
Before long, two hours had already passed and it was time to clean up. After everyone helped pick up the tennis balls, kids waved bye to their buddies as they left the courts. Some kids stayed a little longer just to chat with their buddies.
“See you next time,” was something I heard, which filled me with warmth, knowing that the kids would want more tennis clinics in the future.
Although this has just been the first clinic, I plan to continue these clinics throughout the year because I learned that I want to continue helping others and bring smiles on kids faces.
