{"id":2170,"date":"2015-04-18T09:42:37","date_gmt":"2015-04-18T01:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/?p=2170"},"modified":"2015-04-18T09:47:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T01:47:40","slug":"tennis-academy-of-guam-making-impact-at-grassroots-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/junior-news\/tennis-academy-of-guam-making-impact-at-grassroots-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis Academy of Guam Making Impact At Grassroots Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 100 students at Juan M. Guerrero Elementary School enjoyed an afternoon of tennis with coaches from the Tennis Academy of Guam (TAG), in conjunction with the Guam National Tennis Federation, as part of both organizations\u2019 efforts to increase Guam\u2019s player base at the grassroots level.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"tennis_momo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI liked the one activity where we had one partner and we had to bounce the ball with the racket,\u201d said Brianna Castanieto, a fourth-grader at the elementary school. \u201cBefore, we didn\u2019t know about tennis until we started playing and practicing at school. It\u2019s really fun, I hope we can keep playing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the volley was my favourite,\u201d added Momo Kuzumi, Castanieto\u2019s classmate. \u201cYou can\u2019t let it bounce before you hit it, so it was kind of challenging \u2013 I always had to go get the ball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Students were split into three sessions with TAG coaches\u00a0with the final session concluding at 2 p.m. Tennis training at the school is part of a larger program introduced last year in Guam through the USTA Hawaii-Pacific Section\u2019s Schools Program. Through the Hawaii-based program, Sheila Kurosu, the USTA Hawaii-Pacific Section\u2019s Director of School Tennis, visited seven elementary schools with the intent to provide the teachers enough instruction for certification and equipment to feature the sport in their respective physical education classes. Each school finishing the certifying process also received equipment at no charge. Through a grant from the Australian Open, coaches from TAG return to the schools to assist with training and assess progress. The grant also covers bi-monthly sessions outside of the schools for students interested in extra tennis training.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"tennis_olarte\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI actually like this program and the kids always look forward to it,\u201d said Marie Angoco, a fourth-grade teacher at Juan M. Guerrero. \u201cIt\u2019s a good program because it\u2019s not just about getting the kids together and hitting the ball any which way, but it\u2019s structured to provide skills \u2013 like hand-eye coordination \u2013 that they develop and apply, while learning a new sport. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am hoping that this will continue in the school and gain popularity with the kids. I mentioned to one of the coaches today that one of our second-grade classes was invited to come out and join the tennis training and they really enjoyed it, too,\u201d Angoco added.<\/span><\/p>\n

For fourth-grader Joseph Olarte, he enjoys tennis sessions at school so much that he hopes to get enough training to one day play in tournaments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just started learning about tennis with this program at school and I enjoy it a lot,\u201d Olarte said. \u201cIn today\u2019s session, I liked the drill where we had to make the ball bounce and hit it in the air \u2013 you have to concentrate. Tennis is so much fun \u2013 the coaches are very nice and they teach us a lot of skills. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to learn more and try playing in a tournament. If I get good, maybe I can play in some tournaments in the States,\u201d Olarte added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other schools part of the first seven with teachers certified by Kurosu are C.L. Taitano Elementary School, Liguan Elementary School, Tamuning Elementary School, Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School, St. Anthony Catholic School, and St. John\u2019s School.<\/span><\/p>\n

For schools wanting to incorporate the program into their physical education classes, TAG coaches also are qualified to certify schools and teachers. To schedule a session with TAG, contact Joe Cepeda at 988-7479 or Torgun Smith at 687-5483.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 100 students at Juan M. Guerrero Elementary School enjoyed an afternoon of tennis with coaches from the Tennis Academy of Guam (TAG), in conjunction with the Guam National Tennis Federation, as part of both organizations\u2019 efforts to increase Guam\u2019s …<\/p>\n

Tennis Academy of Guam Making Impact At Grassroots Level<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2170"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2177,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions\/2177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceaniatennis.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}