Tennis for kids.
Lytton Park Tennis, the city’s largest junior tennis academy for kids aged 4-16, is trying to drum up participants at its James Gardens site, or face having to pull the plug on the Etobicoke program. Such a loss would be to the detriment of the program’s 10 per cent of underprivileged participants who play for free through Lytton’s outreach program.
Courtesy photo
An esteemed tennis program in Etobicoke's picturesque James Gardens may be cancelled next year due to lack of participation - a loss that would also mean lost spaces for local underprivileged kids.
Shawn Reynolds has been running Lytton Park Tennis, the GTA's largest junior tennis academy, for the last six years, with locations across the city at Havergal College (Avenue and Lawrence), Gwendolen Park (Yonge and Hwy 401), Crescent School (indoor courts at Bayview and Lawrence), and at the James Gardens Tennis Club in the Royal York Road and Edenbridge Drive area. Last year, Lytton Park Tennis taught nearly 2,000 kids aged 4 to 16 - but very few of them at the James Garden club.
Low turnout at the location, a hidden oasis in Etobicoke Centre, is close to forcing Reynolds to close up shop for the 2012 season, he said.
"James Gardens is a hidden little court and we're on the cusp of having to leave there, which is too bad because 10 per cent of our kids are outreach - kids from underprivileged families don't pay to participate," he said, noting that tennis equipment company Head donates the racquets for such players.
"I also work with POGO (the Pediatric Oncology Group Ontario), so that kids who are battling cancer can play a low-impact sport...but all that is possibly on the cusp of not happening anymore, because to have the outreach portion we need to have a paid portion to be successful."
This year's planned programming at James Gardens includes both spring and summer sessions.
The spring program runs every Wednesday after school from May 4 to June 1, at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Cost is $125 a week (not including taxes).
The summer program runs Monday to Friday, 1 to 4 p.m. from July 4 to Aug. 12. Each of the five weeklong sessions cost $185 a week (not including taxes).
To register, go to www.lyttonparktennis.com or call 647-710-9739.
The camps provide a low instructor-to-student ratio (three to six students per instructor), instruction for all levels of play, and a good balance of skill development and exercise in a fun and supportive environment.
"Tennis is a great game for confidence. It's not a team sport where there's all this competition, it's just a child out there doing their thing," Reynolds added, noting that it's also a low impact sport, so no fear of concussions. "We have kids battling cancer come out and play with us, we have kids with mild to medium autism come out to play, our programs are for kids aged four to 16 - almost anyone can play."
All kids need to bring is a hat, non-marking shoes, sports attire (tennis whites not required), sunscreen, a water bottle, and a bit of enthusiasm. Lytton provides them with the progressive equipment needed to help level the playing field for the young ones - mini-nets half the height of normal ones, and larger, foam tennis balls so that younger kids have a larger target that moves at a slower rate.
Between the child-friendly equipment and the fun-focused tennis programming that sees kids picking up skills without even realizing it, Reynolds said he guarantees kids will walk away from Lytton with a love for the game, and few new skills to boot.
"Tennis is the funnest thing you'll ever do. I offer a 100 per cent, money-back guarantee, because I know if I can get your kid in there for one day, they'll want to come back," he said. "And that's because we're doing games where kids don't even realize how much they're learning...like skeleton tennis, where every time they miss a shot, they lose a body part - they end up playing on one leg, with one hand behind back, and one eye closed. They may feel like they're just goofing around, but really they're learning balance, dexterity, hand-eye coordination."
Tennis, he added, is a game people of almost every age can enjoy.
"I've taught kids as young as three, and adults as old as 76," he said. "Tennis is known as a sport for life for a reason - because you can be really old and still play doubles tennis and not have to run all over the court. I don't know too many 76-year-olds who are still playing hockey, do you?"