Quick Tips to Prepare for Tomorrow's Season Opener

We're all excited about tomorrow's season opener, and I wanted to make a few suggestions to our youth athletes on how to prepare for tomorrow's class to get the most of out it and the whole season. Here are some easy tips for youth athletes:

1. Get a good night's sleep
Lay down your glowing screens and rest. Kids and teenagers should be getting about nine hours of sleep each night.

2. Eat right: Breakfast & Lunch
Eat a balanced breakfast when you wake up, for example: fortified cereal & milk or yogurt with fresh fruit and toast. (It's always healthier to eat fruit in it's original form than as juice.) Have a light lunch around 11:30am or noon, so you'll feel digested before class starts at 1pm. Lunch should consist of carbohydrates, so you have the energy to run around. Think: half a bagel with cream cheese, small amount of rice and beans, or a turkey sandwich.

3. Drink water
It's important to stay hydrated before, during and after exercise. How do you tell if you're hydrated? The pee test. Yup, that's right! If the color of your pee is pale yellow then you're hydrated. If it's dark yellow or smelly, you need more water.

4. Stay positive and focus on progress
It'll be exciting to be back on the courts, if you haven't been all winter. But whenever an athlete takes a break from a sport, he/she won't start back up again at their peak performance. The season opener isn't about being your very best on day 1, it's about preparing to do the work all season long to be your best on day 99. Stay positive and focus on your progress.

5. Practice they way you want to play
The way you practice will translate into your performance during games and tournaments. Commit yourself to long term results. Each class is structured to build upon the last class, so that you have all the fundamentals to play some really great tennis. Commit yourself to practicing the fundamentals, no matter how simple it may seem, and to coming to class each week. You get what you put into practice.

6. Develop a ritual.
It's the start of the season, so now is a great time to develop healthy, happy habits. When we start every class with a quick jog and stretching, that's a positive habit. When we end every class with a team cheer, that's a positive habit. Think of some habits you can do on your own before, during or after class to improve your class experience. Positive habits help keep you relaxed and calm because they make you feel comfortable in your surroundings.

Do your best. We can't wait to see you in class tomorrow! What time? 1pm! What time? 1 pm!

Are You Ready? Season Opener on Saturday

I can't believe it's already here, but KCTL's 4th Seasons kicks off on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at all four locations: Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner Houses. We'll be keeping an eye on the weather all week, but so far the forecast is sunny and mid 60s. A perfect day for tennis.

Students: If you haven't registered yet, sign-up with your Resident Association office ASAP.

Volunteers: Meet at your respective sites at 12:30pm. If you're new or are unsure about which site to report to, head over to Marcy site (at Marcy Playground) and we'll get you to the right place.

Learn a bit about our awesome site leaders on the individual team pages: Maayan at Marcy, Bobby at Tompkins, Duayne at Lafayette Gardens and Dimitri at Sumner.

Check out a photo from Saturday's Volunteer Training: Part II. View more photos from training on the KCTL Facebook page.

Volunteer Training: Improving Ourselves to Help Improve the Students

As KCTL enters into its 4th season this year, we've made a pledge to improve our program at all levels. We never ask the students to be perfect, only that they be the best they can be. And now, we're holding ourselves to the same standards.

To do that, we're using the pre-season to hold two days of volunteer training. Part I was last Saturday, April 20th and Part II is tomorrow, Saturday, April 27th. If you haven't RSVP'd yet but want to participate -- join our Volunteers Meetup page or RSVP on Facebook. (If you missed Part I of the training, you're still very welcome to come to Part II as different material will be covered.)

Volunteer Training Part I
Last week, Jon W., the KCTL Vice-President, led a group of 10 or so, through some basic knowledge and drills specifically targeted for kids 10 and under. We went through the four types of tennis balls and how they're made specifically for certain age groups so that they bounce at waist height and have a certain pace to them.

Hand-Eye & Timing Coordination
Then we broke up into pairs to work on several drills. The drills for kids under 10 mainly consisted of dribbling the tennis ball between partners in the doubles alley with slight variations: stationary, while movings, with two hands, and with one hand. This advances to dribbling the ball between partners while catching it on the center of their racquet.

For the youth athletes, the goal of these drills are two-fold: to work on basic hand-eye coordination as well as timing. For the volunteers, we focused on how the kids bodies should be positioned, how their feet should be moving, and how to turn it into a game rather than a drill where students can count the number of successful passes in a minute. The winning student(s) can help lead the next drill.

Serving Fundamentals
Then we worked on the basic components of the serve. For the drill, we all stood in a line with a good amount of distance between, and then we tossed the ball up with one hand and made the serve motion with our other hand to catch the ball. After we could all do that numerous times in a row, we moved to using the racquet and catching the ball with our hand and racquet at the point highest above our heads where we would want to make contact for a serve.

The serve drill helps new and young tennis players get a feel for what is a good throw as well as the swinging arm motion for a serve. It focuses them to understand and improve upon the fundamentals of the serve, without getting distracted by things like speed, strength and "getting it over the net."

End of Class / Group Tennis Games
After the drills, Jon walked us through two of the most popular games played at the sites 3 Strikes and Jail Break. In 3 Strikes, a volunteer feeds the students balls and sets up an "in-area" where the student has to hit the ball to. It can be as simple as returning the shot within the singles lines to as specific as returning a down-the-alley forehand past the service box. If the student misses the shot that's a strike and they return to the end of the line. (If the student makes the shot, they return to the end of the line.) Once a student has three strikes, they're out.

The same premise applies for Jail Break, only if the student doesn't return the shot correctly, they move to the other side of the court where the volunteer is feeding balls, that side of the court is "jail." If a jailed player catches a ball of another player, they get to free themselves and get back in line, while the other player has to enter jail. It's similar to dodge ball rules in that way. Both games end when only one player is left.

Volunteer Training Part II
Join us tomorrow, for Part II where we'll be focusing on drills and games for the older kids. Training is held from 12:30 - 3pm at the tennis court in Marcy Playground in Bed-Stuy (the corner of Myrtle Ave and Nostrand Ave.) Please be on-time as that's another life lesson that we'll be stressing with the kids this season. Lunch will be provided.

View all the photos from Volunteer Training Part I on the KCTL Facebook page.

KCTL is Better Than Ever Online: How to Use This Site

KCTL is gearing up for our 4th season, which starts Saturday, May 4, 2013, and we're super excited to roll out a brand new website to celebrate it!

Amazing New Features
The KCTL website has several new, helpful features. Our monthly calendar keeps track of KCTL classes, events and holidays all season long. It displays important organizational events like board meetings and volunteer trainings. It also displays the four professional Grand Slam tennis tournaments. In the calendar section of the site, visitors can also find detailed information about our three major KCTL events (Fundraiser, Arthur Ashe Kids Day and Jamboree.)

Secondly, a special notification bar at the top of site announces important news. For example, on a drizzly gray morning, parents, students and volunteers should visit the website to see if class is cancelled -- look for a big red notification bar at the top of the site. The current notification bar is green highlighting our new website! If there is no important information to share, there will be no bar at the top of the site.

Information Overload
Our new site includes so much more information about the program including information on all four KCTL sites, the respective site leaders and KCTL board members.

Young visitors and parents can read up on how to sign-up for a KCTL team, and other visitors can complete an online form to become a volunteer with the program.

There's even an easy page to make a donation to the program, as well as a thank you page to our friends and supporters.

This KCTL blog will be a hub of regularly updated news, including weekly site recaps, interviews with KCTL volunteers and youth athletes, professional tennis player and tournament information, and BedStuy community news. But we want to hear your encouraging words, so be sure to leave us a comment using our Facebook-integrated commenting system.

Lastly, we've included an eNewsletter sign-up at the bottom of the site. Stay in touch with our program and get the most important news directly to your inbox when you enter your e-mail address. Similarly, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or join the volunteer MeetUp group using the easy icons at the top of the website.

That's all folks. Please share your thoughts in the comments below or contact us directly.

Pratt Internship Fair on November 10, 2012

Hey everyone, KCTL will be at the Pratt Institute's one-day conference: Internship & Opportunity Fair: Find & Follow Your Passion. We'll be tabling from 10:30a to 12:30p on Saturday, November 10. We're always looking for a few good volunteers. Tennis skill not required, but it doesn't hurt. Plus, a desire to make change in the Bed-Stuy community through the lives of youth athletes. View the internship description.

For more information, visit the Pratt Institute website.

End of Season Jamboree: Congratulations Marcy Tennis Club!

On Saturday, KCTL held it's 3rd annual end-of-season tournaments and community jamboree. It was a great day of tennis and community engagement. All four KCTL sites (Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner) registered tennis players in our tennis tournaments - one for kids nine and under, and the other for kids ten and up. The tournament was played on eight youth-size tennis courts with the semis and final matches played on the tennis court at Marcy Playground. The tournament was preceded by lots of fun group photos as well as the playing of the national anthem.

Amped music filled the playground all afternoon, and a clown/magician entertained the kids while they waited for their matches. Lunch was provided to our athletes, volunteers and community. Not surprisingly for a group of kids, icees were the most popular item on the menu.

It was really fantastic to watch the kids play, and to meet the kids from other sites that I'm not personally involved at (I primarily volunteer at the Tompkins site.) The kids were friendly no matter what shirt they wore. I saw several moments of camaraderie when after winning a match, the winner consoled the losing player that they had played great, it was a good match and other kudos. My heart just about burst. It made me realize that these kids get it, that character is more important than competition.

The 10 and up tournament came down to two boys from Sumner and Marcy. Marcy won. The 9 and under tournament came down to two boys from Marcy and Tompkins. Marcy won again.

All in all it was a great day. I'm sad for the season to end, but I can't wait for it to start again in the spring! View all the photos from the jamboree on Facebook.

End of Season Tennis Tournaments and Community Jamboree!

The end-of-the-season jamboree and tennis tournament is upon us! On September 29, 2012 from noon - 4pm, join the community and KCTL for youth tennis tournaments, free food and live music. Participating students will win awards and trophies. Registration for the tournaments start at noon. Tournament play begins at 1pm. There will be a 9 and younger tournament and a 10 and older tournament. The rain date is Saturday, October 6.

Come out for a great day celebrating the KCTL program and the Bed-Stuy community! RSVP on our Facebook page.