MIDDLE SCHHOL PROGRAM
AAACTA Middle School Tennis ProgramFor eight weeks each spring, AAACTA offers beginning tennis instruction to 6th graders at all of the six Ann Arbor public middle schools. Each school’s program is offered one or two days per week, right after school, from 3:00 to 4:00.
The class is modeled on the USTA’s games-based approach to tennis. A class typically consists of a half hour of basic instruction and drills and a half hour of games. Athletes are introduced to the game of tennis through Ralleyball. Ralleyball is a game designed to teach the basic skills of tennis in a manner that is fun with friends, while participating in a team sport. Traditional serving and scoring are slightly modified to make it easy to be successful and fun right away, while introducing tennis concepts, tennis terminology and tennis skills. Every good hit earns points for the team.
The program culminates in early June with a round-robin Ralleyball Tournament, held at the University of Michigan Varsity Tennis Center, located at 2250 South State Street. The 2004 tournament included more than 120 students (with many family members and friends cheering their efforts) and was very successful. Since space in the program is limited, parents who wish to enroll their children may want to contact the intramural coordinator at their school in mid-March.
More than 35 volunteers helped with the program in 2004, including seven members of the women’s Huron High School Tennis Team. If you’d like more information about volunteering (with either a weekly assignment or as a substitute), please contact Tris Coffin at tcoffin@umich.edu or Helen Peters at hpeters@umich.edu.
Pictures from 2009 Middle School Program Tournament Day:
Pictures from 2008 Middle School Program Tournament Day: part 1 | part 2