January 10, 2021
On Tuesday January 4th, I arrived to the West Somerville Neighborhood School gym at about 5:30, texted the custodian who’d agreed to let me in, and in no time, I was setting up the space for the first winter tennis session of the year.
Shortly thereafter, the students started arriving. It was great to see some of the folks that had done my classes in previous seasons, but there were also a handful of new faces. Most of us were unsure how this indoor tennis stuff would go.
Fortunately, the first few activities are similar to what we do outdoors – warm up, a couple laps, and then we played some Ladder Scramble. Once kids were running across the court dodging tennis balls, the newness of the space was gone, and the familiar fun of tennis class prevailed.
This was true for groups of all ages. Once the games got going, we all just focused on hitting good shots and having fun. The modified balls and smaller nets were secondary to the main goal, which was to hit a bunch of great tennis shots.
And, let me tell you the goal was achieved……
Several players made it into the 100 bump up club; dozens of shots were smashed into the gym rafters (despite the coach’s plea to hit with control), players sustained some great rallies, and the Ice King was completely dominant.
Overall, the program got off to a great start. Some folks missed the first week because of COVID precautions. We hope they can return to join us so we can be at full strength in the coming weeks.
Thanks to everyone who has gotten involved and please stay tuned for more news from the courts.
COACH DREW TENNIS 