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QuickStart PRO for Cumberland Elementary School

QuickStart PRO . . . Coach Grace's Excellent Adventure with Cumberland Elementary School Students
June 2014

QuickStart PRO is an innovative program which is sending professional tennis resources to rural counties in central Virginia. QuickStart Tennis is taught to summer school students as part of the summer school curriculum during the school day. This is the third summer for Cumberland Elementary School. This year's session is in the capable hands of Grace Simpson, a rising first year at the University of Virginia, former #2 player for Monticello High School and an accomplished volleyball player. As a junior player, Grace and her Mom participated in one of the first QuickStart workshops we offered.

Grace will be documenting her experiences in Cumberland County this summer. Read and ENJOY!

For more photos, please visit Cumberland County Public Schools' Facebook Page. Click here.

Week One -- Day One

Coach Rich Michaels was there to help kick things off. Rich says, "Grace seems like a great kid. She's did OK on court too. I did two classes, she did two, and then I did the last. Cumberland changed the tennis program around this year.  It's now in the high school gym.We had 38 kids. Kids with disabilities were first.  My former doubles partner, Haley, kept hugging me, but there was one new 4-year old, Sean, who was already hitting forehands with Grace --with nobody helping him swing the racquet!"

Coach Grace says, "It went well! I understand how everything works. I was trying to learn the ropes today, so I was unable to get pictures today."

Coach Grace in action with students in the gym. Lots of QuickStart FUN!


 
 


Week One -- Day Two

I believe we can say these kids were tired after today! For a warm-up we played red light/green light BUT they had to bear walk. I could tell they were having fun by the amount of laughter I heard around the gym.

After we warmed up, I was working up a sweat as well, the kids competed in a relay race bouncing the ball on the racquet up and down the gym. Then all the kids grabbed a racquet and I challenged them to see how many tap-ups, tap-downs, and alternating racquet faces while doing tap-ups; they could do and who could get to 50 first.

Then, we started playing, what was that? Tennis! Many of them knew what a ground stroke was and practiced with a partner first forehand then backhand. I found quite a few of them looking like they were playing golf instead of tennis but that was quickly fixed and the fun began!

To finish off the day we had just a flat-out race down and back in the gym which the kids loved and I was able to high-five them all as they came over the finish line! 

I confess I was nervous considering it was my first day alone and I had no idea how the kids would feel with just me around, but I was quickly welcomed into the group and was invited to sit with them at lunch too!

I can't wait to see what happens next! These kids are an amazing bunch with lots of energy!

Week One -- Day Three

It's almost the end of the week and these kids make my day just a little bit brighter every time I see them! One group came and they all ran up and gave me a hug which I thought was extremely sweet!

Today we worked on the first skill of the game which is... Serving! But first we needed to warm-up. I decided on chain tag, which is like freeze tag however the person that is tagged links arms with the tagger and they both go after the others in the group, which allowed the kids to run around. There was a lot of screaming and running as the kids tried to dodge the tagger and by the end they were almost worn out.

After they finished tag, I split them up into 2 groups and they had another race. However, they had to move as one group because their racquets were stacked together with a ball in between each racquet. Some said it was easy which I then challenged them to try it out and it became a lot less easy but they all made it back to the finish line!

Now to the more fun stuff! They then learned to progression of serving. First, they threw a ball over the net to a partner by turning and bringing the ball to their ear then extending their arm upward as they released. Once they got the hang of it we moved to using racquets and they stopped after they made contact with the ball. Then last but not least they added the follow through. I can't wait to see how the last day of week one goes!

 Week One -- Day Four

Today was the last day of week one and I'm sad to be leaving these kids even if it's only for a few days. They learned the art of volleying today but not before a warm-up. To warm up we ended up playing tag again and then to ease in to volleys they stood in a circle and tried to keep the ball in the air.

When they looked to be tiring of that we moved into volleying. After volleying, we played a game called alligator river. If they missed the volley they lost a body part. First an arm, then a leg, then both legs, then they sit on their bottoms. With each round the tosses became harder. As each of them kept losing body parts, the more laughter I heard! It was fantastic to end on such a high note this week! I can't wait to see what next week has in store.


Week Two -- Day One

Everyone seemed to have a great weekend! The bowling alley seemed to be the place to be this weekend -- quite a few of my students were there. After we sat and talked about our weekend, they played a round of tag as a warm up.

Before they jumped into learning approach shots, they practiced movement with a partner. One person had two balls and they dropped one and the other person went and caught the ball after it bounced once. They did variations of this drill by moving farther away or standing on one leg.

After the movement drill, I tossed them short balls and they ran up and hit them -- also known as the approach shot. Once they hit one forehand and one backhand, they rallied with a partner and tried to get 10 hits in a row. While they were doing this, I had all of them, one at a time, come try hitting as many shots as they could with me. I believe one of my students and I were able to rally the ball 30 times!

Once everyone had gotten a turn, we played jail, I know not the most appealing name, but the kids loved it! If they missed the bal,l they put their racquet down and came to my side. If they caught the ball out of the air or on one bounce, they were back over to the other side hitting balls again. I don't think I had a winner, but one kid came close! Tomorrow we'll be working on overheads . . . so excited!

Week Two -- Day Two

Today we worked on one of my favorite shots which is the overhead! But as always there's a warm-up. The kids seem to really enjoy tag, so to get their heart rates up we played variations of tag. Afterwards they moved to overheads. First they pointed (with non dominant hand), turned, and tossed a ball (with dominant hand) in the air to simulate an overhead. After throwing to a partner, they all stood on one side of the net and I went down the line throwing them overheads, which received a few laughs as a few of them swung and missed.

Once they seemed to be getting the hang of overheads, we started reviewing the strokes they had been hitting over the past week or so. First a game of alligator river for their volleys, a little serving warm-up, and a partner rally with groundstrokes. While they worked on groundstrokes, I worked with two kids at a time on doubles! I even hit a kid at one point, score (foam balls)! Just kidding, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves as we ended with their all time favorite competition which was a race from one wall to the other.

Week Two -- Day Three

Only one more day left :(  -- I'm sad to see them go. Today as always we started off with a warm up. They chose tag (shocker!). After they wore themselves out playing tag, we worked on doubles. They found a partner and played against other teams and one group of two worked with me on doubles.

Today was relaxing in terms of playing tennis. I didn't have to teach them much as they just worked on skills they'd learned over the past two weeks. They seemed to really enjoy themselves as they all wanted to try to beat me. Tomorrow is the last day, and I believe that deserves a chocolaty treat!! (not the healthiest treat I know . . .)
 
Week Two -- Day Four (Last Day)

It was the last day. Time really flew! I'm so sad to be leaving such an amazing group of kids. I really enjoyed teaching them, but also getting to know them. 

Today as always we warmed up with a game of their choice which was tag. Then I asked them to choose their favorite tennis game. Two groups chose alligator river and the other two groups chose jail. After we played that for a bit, we moved on to playing around the world as a group. Around the world starts with two groups one on one side the other on the other side. After they hit one shot they run to the other side. The kids were full of energy for this game! 
 
During the last 5 minutes, they sat and were given gifts from the wonderful Lynda Harrill, including Go Bananas for QuickStart! veggie cards and bracelets! Then I gave them brownies for being such a fantastic group and for putting up with me these last two weeks! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for these kids! 
 
Wendy Tillett, Summer School Administrator says, "Grace did a great job and we loved having her.  Thanks so much for another successful year of Quickstart Tennis."   
 
Remember: Go Play! Have FUN!
 

Coach Grace with third and fourth graders
 
 
 

 

 

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