ORANGE PARK – For the past seven weeks, 22
children residing in Orange Park have spent the last
seven weeks participating in a special program
funded by a grant provided by the United States
Tennis Association through Orange Park High.
After practicing forehands, backhands, positioning
and hand-eye coordination for seven weeks, the
crew got together for one final lesson on
Wednesday, Nov. 16, for a program-culminating
tournament at the Club Continental Tennis Club.
The event provided a family-friendly, communityoriented,
and fun way for student-athletes to show
off their skills, all while soaking in more skill
training from Adam Blackner, the Director of
Racquet Sports at Club Continental, and Robert
White, Orange Park High teacher and tennis coach,
among others, who were all elated to offer local
youth additional training at the highly-anticipated
event.
The tournament concluded a two-month journey
of tennis practice that lasted 49 calendar days,
ranging from the dog days of summer to the turn
of the calendar, commencing the cooler flow of
autumn winds.
The students participated in 13 sessions before the
program’s de facto “Super Bowl,” which was
complete with drinks, snacks and an opening
presentation from Lauren Pfanestiel, Community
Partnership School Director of Orange Park High.
Pfanestiel said she could immediately detect the
impacts that the fun in the sun with friends of
Orange Park students who participated in the
program.
“We have students who are more confident, made
friends, and are even planning to join the varsity
tennis team this spring. So, we’re certainly excited
about this opportunity as we grow. We want to
make our tennis team at Orange Park more
competitive. We provide coaching and extra hours
during the summer for tutoring, college
exploration, and allow them to increase their tennis
skills. So we’re definitely excited about what the
future holds. We can’t wait to continue,” she said.
After students, parents, Club Continental, and
community members heard from Pfanestiel, all in
attendance made an introduction to their peers,
stating name and number of years of playing
experience.
Then, teams of two adults and two students split up,
taking charge of the five main courts consisting of
the club’s home base shaded under the beautiful
palmetto trees and tucked between the streets of
the historic neighborhood bordering the St. Johns
River.
Pfanestiel also said, “We received a grant from the
USTA Foundation to run tennis programs
throughout the year for our students. Our goal was
to introduce the sport of tennis to a diverse group
of young people to make this a lifelong sport for
them and increase the engagement of those who
can love this sport after they leave this school.”
Expanded learning is the key focus of the
Community Partnership Schools Model to improve
student attendance, behavior, and course
performance. Orange Park implemented the model
in 2019 as a partnership alongside Children’s Home
Society of Florida, Clay County District Schools,
HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, Palms Medical
Group and St. Johns River State College.
Matthew Lovejoy, sophomore and the fifth-ranked
student-athlete on the Raiders’ boys’ varsity tennis
team, said the program has provided for
indispensable improvements in his game as he
shoots for a big sophomore season at Orange Park in
the spring alongside his dedicated teammates,
Austin, Brandon, Michael and John.
Lovejoy, who is taking to his second season with the
racquet, said White has already helped him at
forehands, backhands, serves and all other elements
involved with the game.
“I feel like going to practice in the offseason has
really helped me maintain my skill. I feel like I’ll be
able to pick up right where I left off in the spring,”
he said.
As for the event he, his teammates and his
classmates were flattered. He summed it up: “I think
it was amazing that we were able to pull this all
together.
“Last year, this was a small team that did not have a
whole lot of experience. Some were also not
experienced at the beginning of the (partnership)
program, and they’ve already come a long way. I’m
really happy for Coach White, obviously, and I know
he’s really happy with how the team has grown.”

By: Lee Wardlaw

Originally posted by Clay Today