Arlington Tennis Association WINS....

Claire and I after we received the award

When I moved to Arlington right after college I fell upon the most wonderful tennis team ever.  Not only did I fall upon a great team, but also a wonderful organization.

Claire is the President of this amazing organization I speak about.   Arlington Tennis Association (ATA) (read more about the other programs at the ATA website)   The ATA spends countless hours dedicating time to seeing tennis GROW and become loved by others of all ages.  ATA is non profit and strictly volunteer based, which means we all dedicate our time because we care that much!  Last year ATA chose to take part in a new program that the United States Tennis Association (USTA) started.  The program is called Adopt-a-school.  (click here to see how you too can start this)

The idea of the Adopt-a-school program is to TAKE tennis to the KIDS!!!  Its simple, find kids that are enthusiastic about learning tennis...and bring the GAME TO THEM!  ATA adopted Key Elementary in Arlington last spring.  Claire and I began this adventure with hopes of reaching a few children at the school.  The children LoVeD, lOvEd, LoVed this program.   We meet with all students from Kindergarten to sixth grade.  We have since continued our program through the end of 2010 and will start back up in March for 2011.  The joy on the children's face makes every minute worth it.  How do we teach tennis at a school with NO TENNIS COURTS:  Simple we take the schools blacktop and TRANSFORM it into 2 QuickStart Tennis courts.  (read about quickstart here) We then make the teachers parking lot into 2 more QuikStart courts.  Oh and for my babies (I work with the k-2 group) well we have our own court on the side of the school gym.  Thats right my friends...we create 5 tennis courts out of thin air! Claire and I are true miracle workers, HA!!

a close up of the award

This past weekend Claire and I headed down to Horseshoe Bay, Texas for a USTA event.  Originally we were going to play some tennis, attend an awards dinner, and speak with other tennis organizations around our area.  However, due to some very WET weather we had a change in plans (no tennis outside).  That evening at the awards dinner Claire and I accepted an award on ATA's behalf.  ATA was awarded the Adopt-A-School program of the YEAR for 2010!!  Claire and I could not be any happier that ATA was given such and amazing opportunity.  We thank the USTA for allowing us the funding to create a positive outlet for the children of Arlington.  Personally I can't believe that something we do for "the fun of the kids" was recognized in such a way. I mean as for Claire and I we just love seeing the enthusiasm that each child brings to the courts.  We love to hear them talk about their great shots and how they can't wait to come back next week.  This is what tennis is about....showing others how wonderful the game can be.  No only does Claire  do the Adopt-A-School program but now she has begun Sunday session with the 4 and 5th graders.  She hopes to soon have a tournament with other local adopt a school programs in the very near future.