Beginning players to some of the more advanced juniors in the state gathered on June 18-20, 2009, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., for the fifth annual USTA Florida Multicultural Invitation Training Camp.
The camp stressed physical and mental conditioning, showing parents and players alike what it takes to get to the next level in competitive junior tennis, with lessons given by some of the top sectional and national coaches in the state.
The three-day camp also seeks to provide the tools to help each participant reach their potential on and off the court, and offers guidance in making competitive tennis rewarding. Other topics included sports science, nutrition, and advice on college tennis, grants and general networking.
Three National Junior Tennis League (NJTL) participants also received scholarships to this year’s national Tennis Leadership Camp: Trenden Davis and Adrienne Clark of the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation in Jacksonville, and Katherine Bewley of the East Coast Tennis Foundation in West Palm Beach. The national Tennis Leadership Camp is an all-expense paid week for 40 selected national NJTL participants that meet the minimum requirements: age 12-14 at time of camp, NTRP level between 2.5 and 3.5, a 2.7 GPA or above, meeting a financial need, and recommended by their coach. The camp will be held in Denver, Co., at the University of Denver from July 21 -27.
"Some of these kids it's their first time away from home," said USTA Florida Tennis Program Coordinator-Central Florida Shelly Licorish. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime that they may never get to experience if not for this camp. For a lot of them it will be their first time on an airplane. There will be a lot of tears shed, missing home. But they are well taken care of by the national staff, coaches and counselors."
Tennis Leadership Camp is an opportunity for NJTL participants to experience an intense week of training, emphasizing individual skills development, physical fitness, proper nutrition, good sportsmanship and other healthy attitudes. Kids will meet other kids that love tennis, train with experienced pros, participate in a career counseling night, interact with special guest speakers, and visit local area attractions. Created in 1984 to provide an educational as well as motivational tennis experience for NJTL participants who could not afford such an opportunity, the goal of the camp is to provide NJTL participants a chance to be part of a life-lasting tennis and social experience.