Across the nation, Spring Break means a variety of things, from going home to your favorite meal shared with siblings to a beach trip with friends. During Geneva College’s 2017 Spring Break, the men’s tennis team dedicated their break to serving and teaching tennis to kids at the Boys & Girls Club in Wake County, North Carolina.
Trip planning started in Metheny Fieldhouse with head coach Mandee
Junior Ethan Stahl gave us a rundown of their week. On weekdays, the team spent their first two hours at the club cleaning and completing other projects assigned by staff. In the afternoons, they ran a tennis camp for the kids, including, tennis drills for rotating groups of kids, kindergarten through fourth grade. When the Golden Tornadoes weren’t teaching drills, they were playing with the kids.
“I enjoyed the time we got to spend with the kids,” says Stahl. “Cleaning was helpful but when we were working with the kids, the personal interaction that you have with them, you can feel that you’ve at least made them smile for the day.”
Stahl explains that not everyone on the squad was used to teach tennis or interacting with kids. “A lot of the guys on the team found their stride interacting with the kids. By the end of the week, the guys who thought ‘Oh, I don’t like kids’, or ‘I’m not going to want to do this,’ really enjoyed the three hours with these wild and crazy kids.”
Head Coach Mandee Craft agrees with Stahl that the new experience of the trip changed many. “Our time at the Clubs teaching tennis gave us a new adventure every day. But, by Tuesday we were settled in and connecting with the kids. It is our hope and prayer that the Raleigh area was positively impacted by our presence this week, especially the children we were blessed to love on and serve, but we can say without question that we were positively impacted by being there.”
Hooke’s previous experience working at tennis camps helped him compose and direct the Golden Tornadoes in how to operate the drills. Hooke talks about the process to create the camp structure. “On Monday, the first club of the week, they bring in 200 boys,” explains Hooke. “It was a little wild, but it went well every day from then on. It was neat to see everyone else step up, and step out of their comfort zone to teach the kids.”
The young men’s tennis program, entering its second season, had never taken a team trip before this year. Hooke credits the trip with growing the bonds among the Golden Tornadoes. “Team chemistry improved over the trip. We were with each other all day, every day getting to know each other on a more personal basis. Even though it was a challenge, especially for the guys who had never worked with kids, seeing how we worked together says a lot about the identity of our team.”
Looking back on the trip, Hooke recalls his favorite memory of the week. “On Thursday, some of the kids asked us, ‘Why are you here?’ All we could say was, ‘Because we care.’ They might not have understood fully what we were saying but you could tell they were happy that we were there. Some even asked us if we were coming back next week. It was hard to tell them no but we did work with the director of the Boys & Girls Club to create more tennis opportunities for them in the program.”
Head Coach Mandee Craft adds, “A trip like this wouldn’t have been possible for some of our guys without financial support. We can’t say thank you enough to all of the friends and family who generously supported us on this venture. I again want to thank Anna Baughman and all of our host families—I know it’s not easy to host a bunch of college guys, but they all did it with grace and open hearts and homes. And also thanks go out to CC and the Club directors for their work. Finally, we want to thank God, as we realize this entire trip was made possible because of the gifts that He has blessed us with and the grace and wisdom He provided during each phase of planning.”
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