Kids in Delray get free tennis lessons, thanks to teen’s idea
DELRAYBEACH– Nine-year-old Ti’esha Davis swung the hardest she could, finally hitting the tennis ball over the net.
Davis, of Delray Beach, on Friday was learning the basics of tennis for the first time, surrounded by an instructor and other children. “I thought it was going to be very easy, but it’s kind of a little difficult,” she said. “You have to hit as hard as you can.”
Davis was one of 19 members of the Delray Beach’s Boys and Girls Club to participate in the free tennis clinic Friday at Catherine Strong Park, made possible by a 16-year-old girl’s determination to share her love of the sport with others.
Jessica Siegel, of Boca Raton, had the idea for the class about three months ago, when she was approached during her tennis Vlad Gawlikowski, athletic ccordinator
practice by a young girl who asked to borrow a racket. Siegel gave the girl her racket to keep, and seeing howthankful she was made Siegel “want to do more of that,” she said.
Siegel proposed the idea of offering free tennis lessons and equipment to Vlad Gawlikowski, the organization’s athletic coordinator for Palm Beach County. He recommended she get her start at the club in Delray.
“I sawa lot of smiles,” Gawlikowski said. “Her main goal was to get them a tennis racketandsharing the joy she has in playing tennis.”
Gawlikowski is already working with Siegel to offer more lessons at 12 other Boys and Girls Clubs in Palm Beach County. So far, Siegel arranged for two companies that manufacture tennis products — Babolat and Tennis Warehouse — to sponsor the clinic. The two companies, along with Stewart’s of Boca, a store that specializes in tennis products, provided equipment for the children to keep.
The children on Friday received a free tennis racket, a bag and a set of balls to practice. “It was much better than I thought,” Siegel said. “It made me so happy seeing the kids having a lot of fun.”
jahall@sun-sentinel.com or 954-425-1794
There was an awful lot of brainpower at work in Hollywood beach as American Mensa members flocked to the coast during the Independence Day week. But they weren’t here to sprawl across the sand or cook out.
Members of the high-IQ society were holed up inside the Diplomat Resort, listening to experts speakonacademic topics, playing cardgametournamentsandhaving official debates.
And if that doesn’t sound like fun, the brainiacs beg to differ: “Mensa is our family,” said LaRae Bakerink, the chairwoman of American Mensa. “You come here because this is where people get your jokes.”
Mensa, for which only one in 50 people qualify, is hosting its five-day annual gathering at the Diplomat through today. And on Saturday, the organization opened its doors to the public, allowing those who wished to prove their smarts to take the standardized intelligence test at a discounted rate.
Test takers were faced with questions that measure their potential for problemsolving, not their knowledge. For example, instead of having to solve a math problem, one might be asked to figure out the next sequence in a pattern.
Those who score in the top two percent are eligible to join the club. Nationwide, there more than 56,000 members. Worldwide, there are more than100,000.
Curious people came from all across the state and the country to take a whack at the test.
Brian Rice accompanied his 10-year-old son Charlie, who is in Mensa, to the convention from their home in Orlando. But while he was there, Dad tried out the test himself.
He didn’t get the results right away, so for nowhis son is still officially the smartypants of the family. ButDad is confident.
“It was pretty straightforward,” said Rice, 38. “There were a lot of logic questions compared to an SAT, which is sort of memorized knowledge.”
Rice, who works as a web designer, said Mensa has been an academic benefit for Charlie, who is going into fifth grade.
Still not convinced it sounds like a barrel of laughs? When asked what else they do for fun, Mensa member Thomas George Thomas, the regional vice chairman for Florida, said, “If you’ve got a more active group, we’ll do some bowling.”
bbaitinger@sun-sentinel.com, 561-243-6648 or Twitter:@BaitingerBrooke