Dearest Duke Tennis Fans,
With the holiday
season fast approaching, DWT took some time out of our finals studies to give
back to the Durham community. This past Thursday, DWT partnered with Playworks to
run a clinic for students at C.C. Spaulding Elementary School. Playworks is a
wonderful nonprofit organization that operates nationwide. Its goal is to reduce
bullying and teach kids to resolve conflicts by integrating physical activity
and play time into the school day. The students we worked with are currently
involved in a year-long tennis program culminating in a match against another
elementary school that is running the same program through Playworks.
We ran the kids
through some drills to work on some of the skills that they have learned from
their Playworks coaches including racquet control and stroke technique. We had
an amazing time working with the kids. They were so enthusiastic about tennis
and eager to learn and improve. Personally, I hope that we have imparted our
love of tennis with these kids and they maintain the same work ethic and
enthusiasm.
We would also like
to thank the many people who helped DWT set up this event. First, to Larry
Herst who gave us the inspiration for this event and helped us with planning
along the way. Second, thank you to Playworks, and especially to Laura
Deeprose, their program coordinator. Laura was integral in the realization of
this event and without her help and enthusiasm this would not have happened. Lastly,
thank you to the kids of C.C. Spaulding for making our time with them so
enjoyable. They were wonderfully behaved, listened carefully to our
instructions and did everything we asked with their best effort.
On a separate
note, DWT is looking forward to the start of our spring season. We kick it off
with a trip to the beautifully sunny HAWAII for two matches against the
University of Hawaii on January 9-10. We then return to Durham for the start of
the spring semester and our first home match on January 19th at 6pm
against William & Mary!!! We hope that you will join us.
As always, DWT
would like to thank you for your continued support of Duke Tennis. We cannot
describe to you how much you mean to us. It gives us so much joy to see you cheering
for us at all our home matches.
Have a wonderful
holiday season,
Hanna Mar and all
of DWT
