Tennis camps Local sports

Dozens of novice tennis players have climbed this week on courts on opposite sides of Ashtabula County.

Conneaut’s recreation department sponsors a free week-long camp at the SPARC tennis courts to the east, while Geneva also runs its traditional camp on the other side of Route 20 to the west.

Dave Simpson works with Conneaut High School tennis coaches and athletes to lead the camp for third or eighth grade. Simpson said the camp is already 16 years old.

Simpson said the camp is trying to teach young players the basics of the game, but still have fun.

We play games where they can use their skills, he said.

The Simpsonsaid camp will feature 28 players this year. According to Simpson, the camp will drill young players into five themes that will allow them to develop their game a long way.

Simpson said consistency, ball placement, depth, spin in the ball, and strength are the five dynamics highlighted in the camp. He added that children often only see the power of professional power, but don’t realize how important accuracy is in a game of tennis.

In Geneva, Scott Torok has worked on the tennis court for a quarter of a century. He said there have been some kind of summer programs since the 1960s.

It returns to Arnie Bradshaw, Torok told of the program, which now includes beginners, advanced beginners and intermediate / advanced divisions, which meet at three different times in the mornings of the weekly camp.

Torok said he has led the summer camp for five years.

According to Torok, the program will have 92 participants this year.

According to Torok, the program is important to get young people out of the house and meet new friends in addition to developing tennis skills. While most of the participants will come from urban schools in the Geneva area, this year there will also be campers in Lakeside, Jefferson and Lake Lake.

With young children, that’s just the basics, Torok said.

However, there is a different story with high school-age campers.

We’re trying to take it to the next level, Torok said of the more advanced players.

Torok said staff plan the camp in detail, but will change on the fly to fine-tune the camp to the needs of the players as needed.

The competition, for all ages, is scheduled for this weekend at the Geneva tennis court, Torok said.