Campo’s Tennis for Tots club offers free tennis lessons to children throughout the community, helping aspiring athletes achieve their athletic goals. The club is run by senior Annie Cooper and Junior Clara Hwang, both of whom are members of the Varsity Tennis Team.

Cooper said, “Tennis for Tots is a club where we give free lessons to kids around this area or in a close distance. The idea is that kids that want to learn should be able to learn without having to pay for expensive tennis lessons.”

The club meets once a month and holds tennis clinics at the Campolindo tennis courts.

Cooper started Tennis for Tots her sophomore year and has been a club officer ever since. Hwang has been a club officer since the organization began her freshman year. Tennis for Tots not only provides free tennis lessons, but also held a racket-drive when the club was first created, collecting rackets for kids who may not have them.

Cooper explained that the goal of the club is that “anyone who wants to play tennis can do it with no boundaries”.

The athletic club offers tennis clinics to kids ages 3 through middle school. As club officers, Cooper and Hwang advertise for the club, trying to get the community more involved. Cooper explained her role as officer, “I organize all the meetings and I also organize all the clinics. I send out emails to parents who have come before, I do Next Door posts, or I’ll put signs up around schools.”

Hwang holds similar responsibilities, being in charge of organizing the time and date of clinics, as well as contacting the parents of the children. Hwang explained that she joined the club because she “thought it would be fun to help the community”.

Cooper and Hwang both enjoy working with kids and teaching them how to play tennis. Cooper stated her favorite part of being involved in Tennis for Tots, “It is cool to see younger kids being able to play the sport that I grew up playing without having to go pay for lessons or expensive rackets.” Cooper added that it is “nice to be able to see them love the sport”.

Club member senior Ayan Patel has also been a part of the club since his sophomore year. Patel said, “I think it is really great to give back to the community. I have had a lot of tennis coaches that were really good in a lot of ways so it is nice to pay it forward.” Patel added that he “thought it would be fun to go and teach kids tennis”.

Hwang was in agreement when it came to the best parts of Tennis for Tots and said, “I like getting together with all the coaches and teaching the kids.”

The club has already grown since it began two years ago, but the members continue to have goals for Tennis for Tots. Patel said, “I think it would be cool to expand, hold more clinics, and be a little more structured.”

Since Cooper is graduating at the end of this year, she hopes that the “the club can stay active and continue to be a thing even after [I] am gone”.

Tennis for Tots is a great opportunity for Campo students to get involved in the community and share the hobbies and interests they love.