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PITTSBURG —
Campers and instructors at the Southeast Kansas Tennis Academy closed out their week Friday with singles and doubles competition and, perhaps most importantly, pizza — rewards for a full week of hard work on the courts.
Pittsburg High School head girls and boys tennis coach John Seal said that he was pleased with both turnout and quality of play.
“We love the number that we had,” Seal said. “We had 15 kids taking this and we’ve got a lot of individual things done. Everybody got better and you weren’t standing in line to hit balls. You were hitting the ball with a coach or an instructor and that really helped.
“The kids who are going to get a lot of time on the court have been playing a lot and that’s always a good thing to see them out here. A lot of our higher-level players, especially our girls, took some pride and did the camp.”
Campers received instruction not only from Seal — coach of eight team and seven individual state champions, Kansas Class 4A Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2002 — but Kansas Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame inductee and recent Kansas Wesleyan University hire Bob Warkentine and a local tennis star of recent years for an opponent familiar to Pittsburg tennis.
“We have a state champion in Omar Elshabassy,” Seal said. “He’s from Independence and we brought him in simply because we felt like he has the kind of attitude it takes to show them what a champion plays like and he knows how to do it. He’s been to the state tournament and he’s a good instructor. He was probably our most effective instructor.”
Elshabassy and his doubles partner Shane Ferguson won Southeast Kansas League titles in 2008 (No. 2) and 2009 (No. 1) for the Bulldogs.
When it rained Thursday morning, Seal moved ahead what had been originally scheduled for that afternoon — a visit over to Underground Racquets in Carthage or what Seal called “The Caves.”
“It was fantastic for them,” Seal said. “They get awed when they go in there. It’s unbelievable. It’s something else and even though it probably cost us even more than we wanted, it was worth it for the kids to go over. It makes the camp special when you do things like that.”
In a 2007 story written by AP writer Betsy Taylor called “Recreation heads underground in Missouri,” Taylor used a quote from Nancy Sanders, who had been playing in the idyllic 68-degree climate of Carthage since 1977.
Campers and instructors at the Southeast Kansas Tennis Academy closed out their week Friday with singles and doubles competition and, perhaps most importantly, pizza — rewards for a full week of hard work on the courts.
Pittsburg High School head girls and boys tennis coach John Seal said that he was pleased with both turnout and quality of play.
“We love the number that we had,” Seal said. “We had 15 kids taking this and we’ve got a lot of individual things done. Everybody got better and you weren’t standing in line to hit balls. You were hitting the ball with a coach or an instructor and that really helped.
“The kids who are going to get a lot of time on the court have been playing a lot and that’s always a good thing to see them out here. A lot of our higher-level players, especially our girls, took some pride and did the camp.”
Campers received instruction not only from Seal — coach of eight team and seven individual state champions, Kansas Class 4A Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2002 — but Kansas Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame inductee and recent Kansas Wesleyan University hire Bob Warkentine and a local tennis star of recent years for an opponent familiar to Pittsburg tennis.
“We have a state champion in Omar Elshabassy,” Seal said. “He’s from Independence and we brought him in simply because we felt like he has the kind of attitude it takes to show them what a champion plays like and he knows how to do it. He’s been to the state tournament and he’s a good instructor. He was probably our most effective instructor.”
Elshabassy and his doubles partner Shane Ferguson won Southeast Kansas League titles in 2008 (No. 2) and 2009 (No. 1) for the Bulldogs.
When it rained Thursday morning, Seal moved ahead what had been originally scheduled for that afternoon — a visit over to Underground Racquets in Carthage or what Seal called “The Caves.”
“It was fantastic for them,” Seal said. “They get awed when they go in there. It’s unbelievable. It’s something else and even though it probably cost us even more than we wanted, it was worth it for the kids to go over. It makes the camp special when you do things like that.”
In a 2007 story written by AP writer Betsy Taylor called “Recreation heads underground in Missouri,” Taylor used a quote from Nancy Sanders, who had been playing in the idyllic 68-degree climate of Carthage since 1977.
“There’s no wind,” Sanders said. “There’s no sun. There’s no heat. I guess the first few times I played, the echo bothered me. There is an echo.”
Anyway, with some of the best returning PHS tennis players out at the academy this week and slated to participate in the upcoming high school team camps in July, Seal expressed optimism for both the upcoming school year and the overall health and future of the PHS tennis program.
“It’s great for us because I think we’re starting to see some progress,” Seal said. “Big numbers, over 20 for probably both girls and boys. We seem to be flourishing and that’s good. The kids want to do it and that’s important.”
Southeast Kansas Tennis Academy
Friday, June 22
Women
Singles
Championship — Katy Short def. Megan Reed, 4-3 (7-3)
Consolation — Laikyn Long def. Hannah Newcomer, 3-2
Doubles
Championship — Katie Phalen-(Bob Warkentine) def. Short-Long, 4-1
Consolation — Short-Long def. Reed-Newcomer, 4-0
Men
Singles
Championship — Hank Cloninger def. Adrian McAfee, 4-3 (7-1)
Consolation — J.W. Johnson def. Logan Benham, 4-0
Doubles
Championship — McAfee-(Omar Elshabassy) def. Cloninger-Benham, 6-1
