Workshop snagged for Lakeside tennis courts

The Lakeside Parks Advisory Committee

recently received some exciting news — the new tennis courts at Ben

Williams Park will play host to a national trainer for a workshop

in June.

The committee applied for a U.S. Tennis

Association Recreational QuickStart Tennis Workshop to be held in

Lakeside.

It was approved for Saturday, June 11.

A national trainer will be assigned to Lakeside to direct the

workshop.

“It should be a really great

opportunity for us locals to learn the QuickStart tennis program so

we can teach it to the kids in the area,” said Jennifer Drew,

committee member and courts organizer. “It’s a whole new method for

teaching kids. It makes the game easier to learn.”

Finding ways to institute the

QuickStart program is one of the requirements that came with the

$11,000 USTA grant received to help fund construction of the

courts.

In addition to including the QuickStart

lines on the courts themselves, the program is to be implemented

over a five-year period. This workshop will mark the first

introduction to the program.

“We’ve committed to try this,” Drew

said.

QuickStart is a teaching method aimed

at hooking youth ages 10 and under on tennis through workshops that

use a smaller court and rackets as well as nets adapted to age

levels.

The Lakeside courts have two sets of

QuickStart lines — one of the courts has pale blue lines to divide

it into two courts for 8-year-olds and the other has extra lines

for 10-year-olds.

Drew said she’s pleased that Lakeside

will be able to offer an opportunity for youth to learn tennis

locally.

“It’s a lot easier for parents,” she

said, of the proximity of the courts. For lessons, most have to

drive to The Summit in Kalispell.

The June workshop will be from 11 a.m.

to 3 p.m. with lunch included and will cost $5 per person.

For more information or to express

interest, contact Drew at flwrgrls@gmail.com or 844-3995.