- The First Drill event held at the Bakersfield Racquet Club prepares high school girls tennis for the upcoming season.
- The annual event provides high school students with opportunities to grow on the court.
- KCTA hosts their distribution event on Thursday, August 29.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Kern Community Tennis Association brings together players countywide in their First Drill event held at the Bakersfield Racquet Club to prepare for the high school girls tennis season.
“You learn and grow and improve so much, and you’re doing it with so many different other teams,” said Elliora Ignacio, a member of the girl’s tennis team at Cesar E. Chavez High School. “It’s just overall the vibe is very positive.”
The volunteer-run event, made possible by sponsors throughout the community, rallies students together, bringing in various resources.
“You go out for the football team, they give you a helmet, they give you pads, tell you to go play. Come out for the tennis team, it’s like, ‘Where’s your racket?’ So we wanted everybody to have an opportunity to get the benefits of playing after school sports,” said Jerry Matthews, vice president of KCTA.
He adds that the organization makes these opportunities possible by providing rackets, shoes, and all sorts of tennis gear to local schools for free.
“I am so grateful for KCTA for sponsoring us and giving us our gear literally without them, I wouldn’t have a tennis racket, I wouldn’t have these shoes, our visors, all of our gear is from them and I really appreciate them for that,” said Valentina Garcia, a member of the girl’s tennis team at East Bakersfield High School.
At the first drill event, KCTA said they gave away about 1,500 articles of clothing during their ‘shopping spree,’ where each player got to choose three or four items to take home.
The event also teaches players skills and strategies– companies like Glinn and Girodano Physical Therapy, helping with stretching. And it's not just physical, but also mental.
“They were talking about getting into your safe place and stuff. So that really helped me,” said Garcia. “There’s moments in my match where I’ll get in my head and it’s like I’ll really struggle with it. But with that, I’ve learned to relax and think about the shot and just really hit a winner.”
Also, supporting the coaches that keep high school tennis running.
“Stepping in as a new coach, it’s one thing to know how to play. It’s a whole other beast to teach a bunch of girls how to play tennis,” said coach Joni Sweaney. “And they’ve stepped in and helped me as well.”
Beyond learning from tennis professionals, many players say they’ve connected with their teammates… or even their competition.
“I really like how we’re able to connect with other schools that we play against, and just learn more about the people and their strategies and stuff,” said Jordyn Ramos with the girl’s tennis team at Cesar E. Chavez High School. “And just get to be friends with them and talk to them.”
“I feel like everybody once they come here, they’re a little nervous,” said Mollie McKinley, a member of the girl’s tennis team at North High School. “And then once they start to talk to all the other girls and once I know I got to meet all the girls in my group, we just kind of connected and we were like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna play doubles together, okay let’s communicate, let’s have fun.’”
Matthews said tennis is a lifetime sport for all ages to enjoy– a gift that he hopes to keep on giving through KCTA.
“The opportunity to give these young people the chance to participate in a wholesome activity right now and also give them something that they can still be doing 40 years from now has been a lot of fun,” said Matthews.
The KCTA hosts their next distribution event on Thursday, August 29.
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