Third Annual High School Tennis Kick-Off a Huge Success at Wheeling Park Bubble
WHEELING — With spring sports right around the corner, high school tennis players from around the OVAC filled the Indoor Tennis Center at Wheeling Park on Saturday afternoon to learn, improve and master their skills in the third annual High School Tennis Kick-Off sponsored by the Wheeling Oglebay Tennis Club.
At least 60 players attended the event to participate in drills instructed by six members of the West Liberty tennis team and acquire information regarding strength training, cardiovascular fitness, nutrition and proper hydration from fitness trainer and OVAC Director of Tennis George Frazier.
“My purpose is to feed the kids information about other aspects of training yourself properly to play tennis,” Frazier said. “You don’t want to play tennis to get in shape, you want to get in shape to play tennis.”
Frazier also handed out information on machine training, free-weight training, proper stretching techniques, cardiovascular fitness and nutritional information.
“If you want to perform at the highest level, then you need to make sure you feed your body the right things,” Frazier said.
The brains behind the operation was Wheeling Oglebay Tennis Club president Debbie Pickens, who worked around the clock to not only make sure that the event was a success, but to make sure each and every individual in attendance left with a fun and memorable experience.
“The club pays for the courts and organizes the whole thing,” Pickens said.
“West Liberty’s tennis program participates for its community service project.
“There are drills on each court and even one group inside doing conditioning. There are two groups of beginners, one for the boys and one for the girls, a group of advanced players, along with two other groups and at the end of the drills, they play games.”
Six members of the West Liberty tennis squad supplied guidance and tips throughout the event as Hilltoppers head coach Sam McCullough looked on.
“This is our community service project and we really hope that the high school kids are able to pick up something from our players,” McCullough said. “It is really nice to see that a lot of kids are involved in tennis in the valley.
“My goal is to just get the kids out here and see that they can play and enjoy the game. I even try to explain to my guys, who play at a higher level, that it is just a game and to have fun with it. We want to win matches, obviously, but we don’t want it to be a life or death experience.”
McCullough and Hilltoppers basketball coach Jim Crutchfield spent six years coaching the program together before Crutchfield took over the reigns as the basketball coach.
High school coaches are not permitted to coach their players until the season begins, but they are welcome to attend the event to look on and Wheeling Central coach Peggy Dailer enjoyed her experience.
“I think it is a wonderful thing and I really appreciate the Oglebay Tennis Club for putting it all together and West Liberty for all of its help as well,” Dailer said. “The kids enjoyed it last year and they are learning. Even watching their backhands, they are getting a better idea of what they are supposed to do.”
Drills taught by the Hilltoppers included forehands, backhands, volleys, overheads and serves.
“We came with a gameplan and wanted to help them as much as we could,” West Liberty tennis player Luke Flanagan said.
“We knew exactly what we wanted to do with the advanced kids and what tips to give the beginners and what tips to give the intermediates to get them to the next level.”
Flanagan is a junior at West Liberty and was thrilled to take some time out of his day to help the rising tennis stars of the Ohio Valley.
“It is also a good feeling to be able to give back to the community,” Flanagan said. “We did this last year too and its nice to be able to spark an interest in tennis.”
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