With the school holidays well and truly underway, there’s no better way to get your kids outdoors and active than with a spot of tennis.
The Nepean District Tennis Association (NDTA) is currently running daily school holiday classes for beginners to intermediate players at the Woodriff Gardens Tennis Centre in Penrith.
Kids aged from five to 12-years-old are invited to attend the half (9am-12pm) or full day (9am-3pm) classes, which will take place from this Tuesday, April 18 until Friday, April 21.
NDTA CEO, Chris Woodland, said the school holiday classes are the perfect way for kids to get off the couch and onto the court.
“School holiday classes are designed primarily with fun in mind,” Woodland said.
“Children will receive instruction in the fundamentals of tennis, but that will be mixed in with a variety of games and other fun activities. The clinics are a great way to develop kids’ hand and eye coordination as well as other skills.”
Tennis racquets and balls can be provided by the NDTA, with kids asked to bring along their own hat, drink bottle and morning tea on the day.
The NDTA will also hold Intermediate and Advanced classes for more experienced tennis players at 5pm on Tuesday, April 18, Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21.
Beginning this week, players will get the first opportunity to meet NDTA’s new head coach Andrew Crawley.
“Andrew is a high performance Tennis Australia coach,” Woodland said.
“He’s coming to us from a large centre on the North Shore where he has worked the last 15 years. We are thrilled to have him on board.”
For more information on the classes or to book, visit http://www.ndta.com.au or call 4721 2880.
Meanwhile, Woodriff Gardens Tennis Centre will play host to the Nepean Easter Junior Open, a major Tennis Australia Junior Tournament, which kicks off on Friday, April 14.
400 junior players, aged 12-16, from around the country will descend on Penrith for the five-day Easter long weekend event.
“This is the largest tennis event in the country over the Easter period. It’s been a Nepean event for over 30 years,” Woodland said.
“We have upwards of 15 local juniors competing and I’m confident they’ll do well.”
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.