Early last Monday morning, a group of more than 30 kids between the ages of 6-14 showed up at Bloom Tennis Center. Many had never played tennis or seen a tennis court before in their young lives.
By Thursday, the youngsters were navigating their newfound interest in tennis at the first-annual Pine Bluff Parks & Recreation Tennis Camp. Trudy Redus, assistant director for the Parks & Recreation Department, said she wanted to expose the community's youth to something more than what they were accustomed to.
"We just wanted to introduce them to tennis and get them excited about tennis," said Redus, who said the tennis center was hardly being used. "Our children do not know about tennis and we want to get them excited about wanting to play tennis."
Trudy met tennis instructor Kreth Simmons, a United States National Tennis Association certified member, and brought him in to conduct the two-week camp that will end this week.
"When I had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Trudy and Mr. Fred Toney, I told them about me and that I would come down from Little Rock every day and do this camp for them. I was more excited than they were," said Simmons, also known as "Mr. Tennis" at his Baseline Tennis Center in Little Rock. "I was more than they thought. I am honored and delighted to be here. This is my calling."
The tennis hopefuls also seemed excited to have "Coach Simmons" as they cheered his name while doing motivational warm-ups on Thursday morning before hitting the court to work on their volley, backhand and forehand.
Quenton Calhoun, a 10-year-old Southwood student, said he really enjoyed the program because it was fun and he plans to continue playing tennis as he gets older. Nadia Miller, 12, she was not interested in tennis at all but had a change of heart once she started attending tennis camp.
"My mom signed me up, I didn't have a say so," said Miller, a White Hall Middle School student. "I'm glad she did. I do enjoy the program. It's very athletic and I like my coaches."
Besides developing tennis skills, Miller said Kreth has taught her how important it is to be a good team player.
"He talks about friendships," she said. "You have to encourage your teammates."
Simmons' knowledge of tennis did not come from him having an athletic tennis background as a youngster. He actually played basketball for Arkansas State University and was introduced to tennis some 24 years ago.
"Something divinely took place with me," said Simmons, who pursued his accreditation, opened his own facility and started running a camp for kids in Little Rock. "I used tennis as a ministry. The racket is the master key to do a lot of things in their life. I can't turn them into a professional tennis player, but what I can do is introduce them to the sport."
The professional potential was apparent as the tennis balls flew over the net to Redus, who had her tennis racket in hand ready to receive. Redus said she did not expect to have such a great turnout.
"I was so nervous, thinking I wasn't going to get anyone," she said. "The coach had told me the max he wanted was 25 and then they just showed up."
Simmons was OK with the overflow of campers and said he saw it as a chance for another young person to change the negative narrative that Pine Bluff often has in the news media.
"When you look at the media, there's a lot of dark clouds in the community here in Pine Bluff and that's the picture that's painted," he said. "These kids need to know that this community is more than crime, it's more than someone going to jail every day. They don't need to come outside and be fearful to be who they are."
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Simmons said he hopes the community will get behind the young people and support them in tennis, a sport he believes can take them to higher places if they put in the time and dedication.
"The communities that the minority kids come from, they don't have any affiliates with tennis," he said. "I'm on an assignment down here to teach these kids and give them something else to do other than the majority sports. I want to use the tennis racket to get them to acknowledge exactly who they are and what they will become one day if they put in the work, time, stay committed and persistent."
