THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505140161
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
When 12-year-old Darnell Privott arrived at the Old Dominion University Tennis Complex on Saturday, he didn't know his forehand from his backhand.
After 90 minutes of instruction by several of the area's top teaching pros, he still wasn't sure.
``Uh. ... give me a minute. ..the Norfolk resident said.
But Privott does know what he likes. And after spending an afternoon running, throwing and swinging a racket with abandon, Privott now knows he likes tennis.
``I had a good time,'' Privott said. ``I had fun.''
Having fun with the game was the main thrust behind the second-annual ``Tennis Across America,'' the United States Professional Tennis Association-sponsored nationwide program designed to introduce the sport to children who might otherwise never get the chance.
``We want kids to be exposed to tennis in a fun way,'' said Kevin Brandalik of the KB Tennis Academy, the newly formed local junior development program for top-level players. ``This is a good way to show that tennis isn't necessarily a country-club, elite sport. Tennis is for everybody.''
Approximately 180 kids from the Norfolk Parks and Recreation Department and the Newport News-based Achievable Dream program happily scrambled around the ODU courts Saturday, seemingly oblivious to the hip-hop music blaring in the background.
``It helps me concentrate,'' 11-year-old Christal Thompson said while brandishing a 1970s model Jack Kramer Autograph wooden racket.
Some of the rackets used by the kids were donations from the Hampton Roads Tennis Professional Association's ``Racket Drive '95.'' Others were provided by the USPTA.
More than 2,000 USPTA pros, including former U.S. Open champion Stan Smith, participated in various ``Tennis Across America'' sessions across the country Saturday. Locally, similar clinics were held at Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center and Huntington Park in Newport News.
With so many kids spread out on the 14 courts at ODU, the pros spent little time on the actual fundamentals (which explains Privott's confusion over which stroke was which). But form mattered little to the kids, who spent the clinic putting a fresh spin on golfer John Daly's expression, ``Grip it and rip it.''
``This is kind of fun,'' said Timothy Hinton, 14, as he took a two-fisted swipe not unlike a minor league hitter flailing at a big league curve.
``I'm not really very good at this,'' Alexis Martin, 8, said. ``But I can hit four balls.''
At the end of the clinic, a few lucky kids received rackets as prizes. Everyone else was given a promissory note, redeemable for a racket and one ball in June.
MORE TENNIS: Old Dominion will stage another clinic today, this time for high school and junior high school tennis players, featuring members of the Bollettieri Tennis Academy staff. Instructors will include Artemi Tehernenko, 17, who is ranked No. 21 among men in his native Russia. The clinic runs from 1-3 p.m. by CNB