William Sun recalls traveling with his Dublin Coffman tennis team in his freshman year to compete. Sure, Coffman bested the opposing team and it was a great victory, but it was the conversation he had with the opposing team’s members after the match that stuck with him.
“They were really passionate about this sport,” Sun says.
Many of that school’s members told Sun they wished they started playing tennis at an earlier age. Most, if not all, started playing the sport in high school. It was for this reason that Sun, who started playing tennis in the fifth grade at the encouragement of a friend, decided to start a tennis outreach program in 2018.
Tennis is an expensive sport and while much of Dublin is fortunate, it isn’t without families who experience financial barriers when it comes to their kids’ extracurriculars. Sun started the program at an elementary school teaching seven students before lunch time four to five days a week.
But Sun knew he could reach more than the seven students he started with, so he founded the Dublin Tennis Outreach Program, which caters to students in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The program has branches in Dublin, Hilliard and Olentangy school areas, about 600 student registrations and more than 20 high school students that volunteer to instruct the lessons free of charge.
“It has been astonishing to see the growth that Dublin TOP has experienced. It is an absolute blessing to see the continual support of our wonderful communities that we serve. All in all, I am so grateful to see more and more peers of mine coming together to help with our organization in continuing to provide the best service possible,” Sun says.
The weekly lessons involve conditioning and drill sessions. Since the pandemic, the program has moved to virtual sessions.
During the early days of those virtual instructions, students had to mimic tennis swing motions without a racket from their bedrooms or their back yard. Soon after that, Sun’s program received some grant funding to provide many of its students a child-sized racket and a foam ball to practice.
William Sun
Now a high school senior, Sun says he’s focused on getting into college but hopes to continue playing tennis. When he leaves Dublin, the program will be run by high school student volunteers.
Gangadhar GS and Shwetha Shashidhar decided to enroll their son, Milan, in the tennis program and he was accepted after the pandemic began.
“For Milan, tennis has become his favorite game,” Shashidhar says.
Her son follows tennis players who’ve accomplished the Grand Slam – winning the major championships in Australia, France, England and the United States in the same calendar season – and he wants to play for his school and in international matches.
“He wants to learn and play the best shots of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal,” she says.
Milan practices tennis against a wall in his basement in the winter and outside with parents and friends in the summer.
“Milan is very passionate about tennis and is getting most of the motivation from the DTOP classes,” Shashidhar says. “DTOP coaches are very committed, passionate and full of enthusiasm. They make it a fun learning experience. Especially during this pandemic time, having DTOP taking classes online is helping kids to maintain their fitness and also learn the game. They are truly spreading the love for tennis in kids.”
Brandon Klein is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
