Fun, laughter, and learning highlighted the successful 2012 Summer Junior Mentorship Camp. The camp, hosted by Dos Pueblos High School, was held Monday, July 23rd, to Friday, July 27th.
This program offered a free two-hour clinic from 3 to 5 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Thursday, we took the campers on an Airbus down to the ATP Farmers Classic Tournament hosted by UCLA, so that the campers could enjoy Kids’ Day activities and experience a professional tennis tournament.
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MASON CASADY AND JOSHUA WANG
This year 19 mentors volunteered at the Summer Junior Mentorship Camp, which included 28 campers almost every day with 22 campers on the waiting list. With these record-high numbers of both campers and mentors, we were able to fill three full-size courts and split each court into two mini courts.
Each day the high school mentors worked well with each camper, teaching them not only how to play tennis, but also how to have a positive attitude in tennis and towards life. Each camper received personal instruction as well as group instruction, since each court had 2-4 mentors and 4-6 campers.
The campers participated in tennis relays, and games, such as Around the World, Garbage, and Jail. In addition, on Friday, each camper took home a new tennis racket, a shirt, prizes, a poster, and a treat. Our mentors were all wonderful role models, who inspired the campers to learn and love tennis. The campers really wanted to continue their tennis. So, it was very fitting that CathyAnn Simon (Executive Director of Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons) talked with the campers and parents about other local tennis programs.
On Thursday, July 26th, the campers arrived at 7:00 am at the Municipal Tennis Courts and we all headed to the Farmers Classic.
Upon arrival each camper received a free t-shirt as well as a pen and a ball. At the tournament the campers could use that pen and ball to get autographs from the professional tennis players. Since Thursday was Kids’ Day, the campers were invited to come down to the stadium court to play games alongside professional instructors and UCLA tennis players. After that, the campers enjoyed free ice cream, as well as the atmosphere of a professional tournament which was filled with both time to learn from professionals and to relish the beautiful grounds of UCLA.
Since everything about this camp was entirely free to the campers and their families, we would like to thank the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons, under the Directorship of CathyAnn Simon, who made this Summer Junior Mentorship Camp possible.
The Patrons provided the mini nets, balls, and rackets for the campers, Airbus to the Farmers Classic, and the tickets to the tournament. Above all, the lead mentors, Mason Casady and Joshua Wang, appreciated CathyAnn’s immense support of them and the supervisors. Furthermore, we would like to thank Liz Frech and Anita Patton for their pre-camp coordination and for their on-site supervision.
The Mentors in the program were: Dos Pueblos- Lead Mentors: Mason Casady and Joshua Wang; KC Egger, Caleb Franzen, Noah Gluschankoff, Ankush Khemani, Helena Lee, Greg Steigerwald, Kate Stratman, and Alex Yang. San Marcos- Renee Handley, Petar Jivkov. Santa Barbara- Hailey DeBoer, Olivia Fox, Gabi Goss, Kelli Martindale, Taryn Mjelde, Cassidy Stein, Claire Waterhouse.
