Anyone interested in getting a lesson in how to teach tennis to children will get a chance to do so at a training session hosted by QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia at Louisa County High School on Jan. 3.
Founded by Lynda Harrill in 2008, QuickStart Tennis has been teaching people throughout Central Virginia the fundamentals of how to teach children tennis. Harrill founded the organization shortly after the United States Tennis Association put out new guidelines for teaching children the sport, from using smaller court sizes to smaller equipment to pairing them with a partner.
“It makes it a lot more fun to learn because you can be successful sooner,” said Harrill, who has been playing tennis since she was four years old.
QuickStart works primarily with schools. Harrill and the other members of the organization teach gym teachers and anyone who wants to participate how to teach the game of tennis to children.
Over the past 14 years, Harrill has taken what she describes as “a Johnny Appleseed approach” and brought the program primarily to rural schools throughout Central Virginia. To date, the organization has held training sessions and other events at 250 schools and worked with 115,000 students.
They held a training session in Louisa in August 2010, but haven’t held one since. Training sessions like this are open to anyone, and QuickStart provides the necessary equipment and resources to train would-be coaches.
“You can teach anybody,” Harrill said. “It’s a great thing for grandparents to do with their grandkids. They’ll come away knowing where to go to find everything they need to teach a kid how to play tennis.”
There is still space available for the training session, which will run from 9 a.m. to noon. Anyone interested in attending can email quickstartcentral@comcast.net or call 434-244-9644. Face coverings are recommeded and social distancing will be practiced as much as possible. For more information about QuickStart Tennis, visit their website, www.quickstartcentral.org.