Team Tennis is Much More than Hitting a Ball
Some 1,700 miles away from the competition of this month’s US Open the students at Ricardo Flores Magon Academy in Westminster, Colorado are just as excited about tennis as Kim Clijsters and Juan Martin Del Potro.At the charter school (which has 210 students in Kindergarten through fourth grade) tennis or chess is mandatory for each student. There are currently 80 students enrolled in the tennis program and, under the direction of two staff tennis professionals, every one of them is competing in local tournaments. Students receive at least an hour of tennis or chess training each day and they are looking for results.
In a story in TheDenver Postearlier this month, Jeremy P. Meyer wrote these activities “can help children develop focus, concentration and problem solving skills that will transfer over to academics.” Marcos Martinez, the founder and head of the school, took the concept a step further adding, “Mastery on the court and chessboard also may give students a connection to the middle class world that now seems out of their reach.”
I couldn’t agree more with both Meyer and Martinez and I have long believed tennis is much more than hitting a ball. Tennis teaches you to make decisions and like so many things in life, when you have a plan you put yourself in a much stronger position. Off the court, the socialization aspect of tennis is a big plus for the sport. You learn a lot about yourself, but you may learn more about those around you, including how they react to pressure and how they approach decision-making.
Marcos Martinez and his students are proving themselves. The scores these children as posting on standardized tests are making people sit up and take notice. Tennis is helping these boys and girls and that is a good thing . . . a very good thing.