Pop Warner football and Little League baseball both start at
8-years-old, and kids can sign-up for basketball around the same
age. But, when does tennis start?
By Greg Chapman Staff Writer
Gilroy – Pop Warner football and Little League baseball both start at 8-years-old, and kids can sign-up for basketball around the same age. But, when does tennis start?
Thanks to Jami Reynolds, kids can begin playing young as Gilroy will start a junior’s program at South Valley Middle School this fall.
Reynolds, a tennis enthusiast and member of the Gilroy Tennis Club, came to the GTC and the Gilroy Unified School District with the idea of resurfacing run-down courts that hadn’t been used for tennis purposes since 1985.
“Our thing is to play tennis, but also to further the game of tennis,” said Mark Renella, Board of Directors for GTC. “Just an excellent idea. We did it for the kids.”
Along with the GTC, the GUSD, the Gilroy Foundation, and the United States Tennis Association provided donations for the cause. PermaGreen Hydroseeding, a local Gilroy company, did a cost only job and four USTA regulation courts were finished two weeks ago.
“As a community, it has been missing,” Renella said. “These are the newest and best tennis courts in South County.”
Gilroy Tennis Club members filed into the new facility for practice with smiles on their faces on Wednesday. No longer do they have to wait at Las Animas Park, where GTC president Eileen Obata said courts are always full.
Although finding open courts is less of a hassle these days, Obata stressed that the courts were for the kids.
“This just provides us another venue, that’s what is great,” Obata said. “But, the biggest excitement is getting the junior’s program.”
In the GTC’s mission statement, there is a reference to providing quality tennis in the community, and what better way than to get kids playing to enhance the sport.
The plan is to kick things off as soon as school starts, and get kids interested in what Renella calls one of three life-long sports.
“This is a sport for life, well into the 70’s and 80’s,” Renella said. “After other sports are over, tennis is still there.”
What Reynolds, who is an Athletic Director, coach P.E. teacher at South Valley Middle School, and the GTC have on their side is the lack of anything similar. This is the first time a junior’s program will be offered during the school year on an on-going basis.
In addition, the USTA has offered equipment and help with instruction.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the city of Gilroy,” Renella said.
