Learning the basics

Coral Wilson

The sun beat down on the red and green tennis courts at Edison High

School. Dirty, neon yellow tennis balls flew into the air, the fence,

the net and occasionally into other courts.

“Let’s look like tennis players,” Australian coach Ian Rich said,

encouraging his line-up of students to straighten up as they wilted

in the summer heat.

The junior tennis classes, offered by the city of Huntington

Beach, are offered to students ages 6 to 16. The five-week sessions

are held throughout the summer.

Rich hit a continual stream of overhead shots and one-by-one, his

students attempted to hit them back.

“Oh,” Kristie Sharafkhanian, 10, said as she watched a tennis ball

fly past her.

“Nice miss,” Rich said, always ready with a compliment.

“At least it was a nice one,” Kristie said.

Back home in Sydney, Rich teaches tennis full-time. Since many

Australian children are more interested in surfing and cricket, Rich

said he enjoys teaching Huntington Beach children because they listen

and come with a purpose to learn.

“Good girl, nice shot,” Rich’s words of encouragement followed

every ball over the net. “Racket back, take your time, nice shot.”

Sportsmanship and teamwork are more important than winning, Rich

said. Since the camp is short, Rich said he wants the children to

have a good time.

Last week was 15-year-old Mary Nguyen’s first experience playing

tennis. Her main goal had been to hit the ball and keep it in the

court.

“I’ve learned that tennis is all about concentration,” she said.

“You have to practice a lot to be better.”

While the camp is designed for the beginning tennis player, many

children come back repeatedly every summer. Jackie Blankfield, 14,

said she has been coming for the past seven years, for three to four

weeks each summer.

After years of experience, Jackie found that a simple rule

improves her game every time -- “If they are on one side, hit on the

other side.”

* CORAL WILSON is a news assistant who covers education. She can

be reached at (714) 965-7177 or by e-mail at

[email protected].