Racquets a hit with students

The popularity of tennis at Tom Price Primary School looks set to soar after the school received new racquets from Tennis Australia and one of its teachers was awarded a scholarship for further coaching.

The students were the lucky recipients of 70 modern tennis racquets for free as part of their involvement as a Tennis Australia partner school.

Physical education teacher Sara Mohamed said the racquets provided a much-needed upgrade to tennis equipment at the school.

“I don’t think we even had a class set (of racquets) before,” she said.

“We had old racquets when I first got here, and the grips were all worn — some didn’t even have grips.

“When kids are using them over and over again, the quality declines ... so class kits have been really handy.” Ms Mohamed was last week awarded one of only three Tennis Australia women’s coaching scholarships in WA towards completing a junior development coaching course and receiving mentoring.

She said her decision to pursue further coaching qualifications had come after helping reignite the popularity of tennis in Tom Price last year.

“The (tennis) club had no organised social play, no junior programs and memberships were low,” she said.

“So I joined with a few people at the tennis club to bring a Tennis Australia representative up to the region to run some coaching courses for teachers and community members so we could get the school’s sports program and the club’s ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program running at the same time.”

The school has since become part of the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots children’s program and features tennis as part of its sports curriculum for at least four weeks of the year.