Darma Tennis Clinic - June 2009 in Vellore, India

Darma Tennis Academy's first tennis clinic was conducted in Vellore, India. Over the last several months, basic education on playing tennis was made available through video and people. Manu and I demonstrated the basics of tennis (i.e. forehand, backhand, volley, grip, etc.) and explained in the local language, Tamil. Children who showed interest in going further were selected for the tennis camp, and what we thought would be about 8 students, turned into 20! These children were provided with free transportation to the tennis court, property of the local officer's club (one of the 2 courts for the entire town). The children had a great time. They ran around picking up tennis balls for me while other children were playing and as only half of them had canvas shoes (the appropriate footwear), they kindly let their friends borrow them for half the time while they sat out! We finished up with a game called "Apples and Oranges" to hone in on their hand-eye coordination skills. This exercise demonstrated that socioeconomic status as a barrier can always be overcome if you're willing to help and give it a chance. Given an opportunity any child will shine. These children all went back home and were asking for their own tennis racquet!