This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Trumbull Racquet Club Welcomes Frog Hollow 10 and Under Team

Trumbull, CT – On November 10th, eleven 10 and Under junior players from  Frog Hollow Racquet Club in Lansdale, PA arrived at the Trumbull Racquet Club with racquets in hand eager to participate with Trumbull’s 10 & Under team in a new USTA initiative called PlayDays. Frog Hollow’s Head Pro, Mike Esz, accompanied his 10 and Under players, along with a group of parents. 

 

The PlayDay was structured as a round robin featuring timed orange or green ball singles or doubles matches based on the 10 and Under Tennis developmental pathway.  At the end of the three hours of matches, the players enjoyed a pizza party and the Frog Hollow parents and players boarded their bus with full stomach and tired legs.  While there were no official winners, all agreed that it was a win-win event and are looking forward to the next one.

Find out what's happening in Trumbullwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

PlayDays provide a fun, non-competitive format and less stressful environment for juniors that are still developing their tennis skills.  “We need more fun and flexible events like this to help bridge the gap between in house clinics and competitive environments. We were very pleased to host this first PlayDay and thank coach Esz for his support,” remarked Mike Slattery, who is the 10 and Under Director at Trumbull Racquet Club and the hosting coach of the PlayDay. 

Find out what's happening in Trumbullwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

“Our players enjoyed themselves and there were many close matches. We’d like to thank Trumbull Racquet Club and Mike Slattery for hosting us for a great day of tennis,” Coach Esz commented.

 

Mike Slattery is a member of the Board of Directors of Evolve 9 and the USTA New England Competition Committee. Evolve 9 is one of the leading 10 and Under training companies in the world.  Their methodology is being used by the USTA and many world tennis organizations. Mike recently spoke at the USTA Tennis Development Workshop in Denver, Colorado, about this topic to tennis organizers from around the country.  “Children need to have the time to develop their games in a non-stressful environment.  PlayDays are a great way to positively impact junior players by having them play in a variety of matches that don’t place any unnecessary pressure or expectations on them,” said Coach Slattery.

 

This first PlayDay was initiated by Denard Mclendon, Director of Tennis for Frog Hollow and Thane Schweyer, Business Development Manager for Tennis Connecticut. “There aren’t too many 10 and Under programs in our area outside of our network of clubs, so having the opportunity to team up with Denard and the Frog Hollow Racquet Club was a great opportunity for both our clubs’ players,” said Schweyer.   

 

“We were happy to host this event for our 10 & Under and Frog Hollow’s players and are thrilled that all of these juniors had such a great time,” remarks Ginny Dragone, Manager of Trumbull Racquet Club.

 

Jeff Gocke, General Manager for Tennis Connecticut, added “Tennis is a sport that is all about having fun and great relationships. We look forward to hosting at all of our clubs many more of these types of events that will build strong interclub relationships, foster new friendships and a long lasting love of the game of tennis.”

 

Tennis Connecticut is tennis management company that runs seven tennis facilities from Stamford to Milford in Connecticut.  Tennis Connecticut has been managing tennis facilities for over 25 years.                                                                                                                         
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?