WV 2011 Year End Summary
Kyle Hoffman WV TSR
Things are starting to heat up in West Virginia despite the weather getting colder. It’s been a busy but prosperous summer and fall for WV as some new faces and old ones are getting reenergized to get tennis going strong in WV. Two of the biggest changes in 2011 from year’s past were a much stronger contact list and a working list of all the tennis courts in WV. Both will be key in moving forward. Cold calls were made, showing up at unsanctioned events, and working through friends of friends were instrumental in building up the contact base. What we learned as an organization was that many people were just unaware of what USTA could offer them and were excited for the opportunity to help tennis grow. As WV looks for new ways to help kids and their parents stay fit, many of the programs the USTA has to offer will be essential in the years to come.
JTT
Two rounds of Junior Team Tennis were played this year. One was this summer with about 20 kids from Morgantown, Fairmont, Berkeley Springs, and a couple kids from outlying areas participating. After the summer session finished, kids were asking to do another round in the fall. Now that a foundation has been laid for JTT, we hope that it will grow by word of mouth and get other coaches and teams to participate at their local levels.
2012: Many kids were unaware or hesitant to participate in Junior Team Tennis because they thought it was just Morgantown kids playing. With more time to promote for next summer, these numbers should easily increase. One of the really interesting we learned was that there were a few other local teams playing, but were unaware of the JTT program. One was a junior high traveling team out of Charles Town and two middle school Lewisburg teams. Both were unaware of the JTT format and all of them want to play other WV kids. It will be very exciting to add them into the JTT family next summer. Martinsburg is another area that is very interested in starting JTT. The community had two meetings this fall about starting a local league. Beckley is another area interested in the JTT, but would like to concentrate more on the 10 and under.
Another opportunity for JTT may be with the junior varsity programs. Several high school coaches have been in touch asking if the USTA could help schedule and do matches for their junior varsity programs. Despite the shortage of courts in many of the areas, if a team were on travel at another site this would be a great opportunity to get these kids an organized match or two. Another idea that has come up to help grow JTT in the summer is to do a tournament style format to spark interest and get more kids involved.
Play Days
Play days were something new to a lot of people in West Virginia. Groups of kids came together to play but a lot of the time they did not take the time to register the event. WV had two last year, one of which was at Ridgeview Racquet Club this summer and the other was in Lewisburg this fall. Kids were able to get free instruction and more importantly got the opportunity to go out and play.
2012: This should be a big area of improvement for WV since many of these as mentioned previously went unregistered. Charles Town will be a big benefactor of this and a lot of high school coaches have been very interested in these for their junior varsity (JV) teams. Tennis coaches have wanted an alternative for the JV players without taking up varsity court time. Setting dates and times for the other kids to play would be a huge help to them and help increase participation numbers.
Quickstart Workshops
Quickstart workshops are another area where big improvements can be made. This is really a golden opportunity for parks and recreation programs to attract more kids and strengthen their summer programs. The only one that I am aware of that occurred last year was through Berkeley Springs.
2012: Right now Raleigh and Marion County parks and recreation seem to be the most interested for next year. Right now, the USTA is trying to find out when the state parks and recreation conference is to be added as a vendor and/or a presenter.
Community Tennis
It was nice to have Berkeley Springs join as a CTA this summer. By increasing programs and marketing, Paula Osborne’s program has gone from 15 kids to 40 from the ages of 5 to 18. Another nice addition was that of Mt Lake Park. Despite being in the Maryland region, Mt Lake Park members participate in a lot of WV tennis events since WV counties surround them.
2012: There have already been a few communities and groups who are interested in becoming a CTA. Charles Town who has a very strong junior program has been inquiring about more details regarding CTA’s and is currently in the process of gathering numbers of who would like to participate. The Lewisburg middle school program and Marion County parks are also been interested in becoming a CTA within the next year. There is also a group of parents from University High School who reached out inquiring more about becoming a CTA in the future.
Schools
Many schools in West Virginia were unaware of what the USTA had to offer them. We reached out to Mary Weikle who does a lot of innovative programs for schools throughout the state and was one of the original participants in Indianapolis when Dr. Pangrazi released the curriculum kit for teachers that we still use today. Mary asked us to attend the West Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (WVAPHERD, www.wvapherd.org) as a starting point to get USTA some exposure. USTA staff presented did presentations on both days and allowed for the teachers to ask questions and test out the equipment. Despite a few rug burns from a couple of diehard competitors, the feedback was great. Several people came up and asked, “Are you guys the ones everyone is talking about?” After the first presentation, we were already asked to come back next year.
West Virginia USTA was invited to the 2012 State Park and Recreation Convention which will take place in Black Water Falls, WV on October 4th, 2012.
2012: Thanks to the WVAPHERD Conference, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback. Mary Weikle asked if we would help with Kid’s Strong that has about 600 kids attending in June. She also has a couple other events she would like to pencil us in for and is currently working on dates and details.
After-School Programs
This will be a new addition to WV going into 2012.
2012: Many schools are interested in after-school program for their kids. The goal was to focus on 4 schools for this winter/spring, but the demand has been so high that a few more schools in other areas may be added. Some of the schools interested are Wright Denny Elementary in Charles Town, Buckhannon Primary School in Buckhannon, Webster Springs Elementary in Webster Springs, Midland Elementary in Elkins, two schools in Berkeley Springs, Rivesville Elementary in Fairmont, Cheat Lake Elementary in Morgantown, Eastern Greenbrier Middle in Lewisburg, and several schools in Beckley. Romney School for the Deaf is the latest addition as they hired a full time staff person to come up with activities for the kids, and according to the high school principal tennis will now be one of them.
In-Services
Numerous schools have expressed interest in being a host site for the in-service program to take advantage of the free training and equipment. On November 10th, Rivesville Elementary School in Marion County was the first West Virginia school to be a host site. On December 3rd, Park Middle School in Raleigh County will be a host site.
2012: Next year brings a lot of promise in regard to the in-service program. Keyser Primary/Middle School will be hosting an in-service for Mineral County on April 5th. Buckhannon Primary School in Upshur County and Midland Elementary in Randolph County have both expressed interest to host an in-service to kick off the school year next year. Wright Denny Elementary School in Jefferson County and Eastern Greenbrier Middle School in Greenbrier County are still determining whether this spring or next fall would be better to host an in-service for their respective counties. The biggest ground gained is with Concord University. Representatives from their school reached out to us after attending the WVAPHERD conference wanting to add the in-service program as a yearly opportunity for their students. This will be a huge step for us since we will be reaching out to students before they become teachers and will already have the proper training to teach tennis in the classroom. The 2012 training date for Concord should be set in the next week.
Leagues
Leagues have been a struggle due to the nature of distance many of the players are traveling and getting everyone on the same schedule. There are many pockets of tennis players but enough to have two or more teams consistently playing one another. Ridgeview was able to get an adult women’s tri-level going this fall.
A Mixed league was completed in the Spring of 2011 with three teams (Total of 25 participants). The league was played out of Fairmont and Elkins, WV.
2012: The Martinsburg senior men were scrambling to try to get their league going this fall, but are focused now to start their league back in the spring. Many players have asked about a tournament style format to help gain interest back from those casual players. The focus may be more of a tournament style play for 2012 to get teams qualified for sectionals and to grow interest again in league play.
Blended Lines
Berkeley Springs was the first to take advantage of this exciting opportunity. They painted lines on their two city courts. Rivesville Elementary School has reached out asking about having their court painted and hopes to get started as soon as the parks and recreation can do it.
2012: Other site areas such as Keyser city courts, Fairmont parks, and Charles Town city courts have also expressed interest, but are waiting on resurfacing to take place at each of these sites before they put permanent lines down. Elkins is looking to build 4 Quickstart courts in the spring and lining the college courts as well. Morris Park in Fairmont is also looking to add 2 Quickstart courts and is currently looking at funding to make this happen.
Organization Members
Organization members are another area where we will most likely see major improvements in WV. There are a couple organizations currently who are USTA members, but most are related to hosting tournaments. We were able to add Keyser High school this fall as a 5 year member and will most likely be adding Greenbrier East High school and Keyser Primary/Middle school before the year’s end as well as a 5 year member. Other new members to join where Marion County Parks and Recreation, Rivesville Elementary, Park Middle School, Midland Elementary, and Eastern Greenbrier Middle School.
2012: Lots of new faces will be looking to team up with the USTA in 2012. Several of the schools listed in the in-service section will become organization members, along with college and universities like Fairmont State University, WV Wesleyan and Concord University will be added. It is also looking promising to add a few new parks like Raleigh County. Another target market that may be beneficial to the USTA is partnering with the local YMCA’s throughout the state to help them with promoting tennis at their local clubs.
Adaptive Tennis
The adaptive tennis program has not been very active recently in WV.
2012: One of the exciting partnerships currently in the works is with Romney School for the Deaf and Blind. Athletic Director Bob Haines is extremely interested in creating a relationship with the USTA to offer these special need kids with new opportunities to be successful in life. The high school principal has asked that we set some follow-up meetings with Bob and their new after-school director to make sure tennis is added to the curriculum.
Tennis On Campus
West Virginia University (WVU) has about 90 kids participating in their tennis on campus program. The university committed this summer to resurface 5 courts onsite that the TOC previously used and built 5 more for their use.
2012: Fairmont State University has been an ideal candidate for the TOC program. The varsity coaches have been very supportive particularly Janet Floyd and has help us get in the door with the recreation department. West Virginia Wesleyan has been another candidate that would make for a nice TOC program. The varsity coach, Nick Barr, has been very supportive of adding this and has helped organize a meeting with his athletic director and wants to help us work with the recreation department.
Tournaments
Tournaments have been few and far between in the past in WV. Ridgeview Racquet Club, Jefferson County, Bluefield and the Greenbrier were the only ones doing USTA sanctioned events last year.
2012: Ridgeview has stepped up and said they will host one tournament a month if it will help grow tennis in West Virginia. The Greenbrier is willing to take on a few more next summer to for promoting tennis in the southern part of the state. Elkins has already asked to be added for next year’s summer schedule, and the WVU assistant coach, Brian Sullivan, has been asking to do a couple junior girl’s tournaments. Martinsburg has expressed interest in running a tournament or two, and Keyser and Beckley have asked to get more information about becoming future host sites as well.
In conclusion, there is a real opportunity for growth in WV. Some areas need more time to get their foundations built before a lot of new programs can be added while others are looking for ways to reinvent their current programs to attract more people. West Virginia is finishing strong for 2011 and looks to make even greater strides in 2012.