Little Tennis Encourages Parents to Play Tennis With Their Children
June 6, 2007
While most youth sports encourage parent involvement and support from the sidelines, United States Professional Tennis Association’s Little Tennis® program provides the perfect opportunity for parents and their children to enjoy an activity together. A staple of the program, which began in 1994, is to get parents on the court, involved and participating with their children as they learn how to play tennis.
The program, which was created for children ages 3 to 10 and is the nation’s tennis equivalent to Little League Baseball, soccer, or basketball, gives parents the opportunity to be practice partners for their children during group lessons and at home. The USPTA strongly encourages its tennis-teaching professionals to incorporate parents into their children’s group lessons.
Having parents on the court allows children to be active during the whole lesson instead of spending time waiting in line or for a chance to play. Parents can assist by tossing tennis balls and hitting with their children. The tennis professional is free to roam among all participants to provide instruction and assistance.
Parents can find out more about Little Tennis by asking their local USPTA-certified teaching professional about the availability of the program in their area or by calling (800) USPTA-4U. Parents can find a list of USPTA-certified tennis-teaching professionals in their area by using the Find-a-Pro service at www.uspta.com or going directly to usptafindapro.com. For more information on Little Tennis visit littletennis.com.
