Students in the Greenville School District, from elementary to high school, will soon be serving aces, dropping lob shots and smashing winners.
The district has partnered with the Mississippi United States Tennis Association to bring the sport of tennis to its physical education class. On Wednesday, representatives from Mississippi USTA conducted a workshop at Greenville High School to help the district’s PE teachers introduce tennis in their gymnasiums and blacktops. The program known as ‘Net Generation’ encourages kids to be engaged and challenged in the sport.
“Playing tennis helps you live longer. It is one of the best aerobic activities you can do,” said Jay Pacelli, the Director of Community Development with the USTA Mississippi who was one of the instructors at Wednesday’s workshop. It is a movement game. It is for kids, adults and everybody. We have obesity issues in the state, and tennis is a fun way to work against it. The curriculum of ‘Net Generation’ helps teachers shape the game for individuals so they can advance at their own pace. The PE teachers we are working with are already experts at the classroom strategies, but we are trying to enhance the strategies here with this training.”
Along with the in-person workshop on Wednesday, the district also received an equipment starter kit with 30 tennis racquets, balls, rolls of barrier tape to create smaller tennis courts for imited space in gyms and chalk. The kit also includes larger red tennis balls designed for the children to play on smaller courts.
Greenville High School Athletic Director Markeith Washington said a main goal for the USTA workshop on Wednesday was to introduce the students to tennis at the elementary level.
“We are trying to get them started when they are younger. Our high school tennis team had a lot of success this year and we are hoping to elevate it even higher. We want to start doing this with every sport that we have in Greenville Public Schools. We want to start at the elementary level. Just like we do with track or basketball or football we want to be able to open the avenue in activities like tennis, golf and E-Sports”
Emilla Viljoen was another USTA Mississippi representative at Wednesday’s workshop. Viljoen grew up in South Afraica where she fell in love with the sport. She eventually became a college player at the University of Victoria, and later played a little while on the professional circuit. “We want to share the game and, most importantly, we want to just make tennis fun for the students,” she saidd
Wednesday’s tennis workshop was possible thanks to the work of local tennis coach Birlette Jelks, who teaches the sport at Ward’s Recreation Center. Jelks is the Southern USTA Representative for Schools.
Said Coach Jelks, “Our objective is to get all of the schools in our district signed up and partnered with with the USTA. We want to not only teach them how how to play tennis but also how to become good overall citizens.
“Everybody is not built to be a football player or a basketball player. There are other options that are healthy and can be played long term. Tennis is one of the sports you can play your whole life.”
