Nole & Napoleon

Two rather seasoned tennis players in Naples were having a conversation recently, when one of them stated: “Twenty years ago, I could have beaten Novak Djokovic.” To which the other remarked: “Yeah, he was only seven years old then.”

It is a point well made; because even a player of Djokovic’s stature had to learn the game at some point; which brings us to the subject of junior tennis.

At the Arthur L. Allen Tennis Center in Cambier Park there is year-round instruction available for aspiring young players. It starts with the after school program in August, which runs through the entire school year. Kids aged 4 & up can hone their game Monday through Thursday from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

When school lets out in June, the summer camp begins. There are two options available in this Monday through Friday program: “Tennis Only” which runs from 9 a.m. – Noon and the “Tennis Plus” which is from 9 a.m.– 3 p.m. and includes other fun activities in addition to the tennis instruction.

What is the point of all this instruction, you may ask? Well, one very exciting avenue for young players is junior tournament tennis. Here at Cambier Park we host 10 junior tournaments throughout the year.

These USTA – sanctioned events provide a training ground for the professionals of the future.

This would seem to be a thing of great benefit. For as Wellington said (or didn’t say) of his victory over Napoleon “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”