Carnival will highlight area children’s programs
Virginia Beach initiative gives kids early help with sport
As a man who has taught tennis in Hampton Roads and California for about 45 years, Gary Garner knows how beneficial the sport can be. Now, kids in Virginia Beach Public Schools can enjoy the longtime, well-credentialed pro’s efforts to popularize and instruct the game.
In an initiative he helped begin during the COVID scare, Garner is leading the Virginia Beach Tennis Patrons Association’s partnership with the United States Tennis Association that has introduced the game to more than 70,000 students.
“We have signed up 22 schools to receive the USTA Net Generation Package,” said Garner, a pro at Virginia Beach Tennis & Country Club. “This package includes 30 rackets, balls and tape for lines a net, and a clinic with our PE teachers and their students on how to use the package and how to teach the basics.”
Interested schools sign up for two-hour sessions in which Garner uses video to help kids learn strokes. He can draw on his experience coaching touring pros and major-college players in the area and in Newport Beach, California.
The first VBTPA Tennis Carnival, set for Saturday from 1-4 p.m. on the Lynnhaven Middle School courts, will celebrate the sport and the Virginia Beach schools program.
At the free carnival, one court will have a ball machine and will be used for teaching and video analysis. Other courts will have prizes available, with juniors, serving and doubles among the emphases. Wilson, one of the bestknown sporting goods companies for tennis, has donated numerous rackets, strings, balls, grips, bags and other equipment for the occasion. Garner is on Wilson’s advisory staff and has earned “Elite Pro” designation from the U.S. Professional Tennis Association.
Early in their tennis season, “we’ve been giving high school kids free lessons and video during their practices,” Garner said. “They see themselves on the iPad, and it’s so cool. Last year, we worked with seven high schools. Probably even 40 or 50% of them have never had a lesson. The program I came up with is basically what I saw in Southern California.
“We want to start with the elementary, continue with the middle, and then when you get to high school, reap the benefits.”
The USTA Mid-Atlantic Section, which includes all of Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and part of West Virginia, created a video — posted at vbtennispatrons. org — outlining the program. The VBTPA is seeking corporate sponsorship for it and the carnival.
USTA Mid-Atlantic “appreciates the enthusiasm and success our organization has brought, and hope it will catch fire in the other 66 metro areas in the Mid-Atlantic,” Garner said.