{"id":77100,"date":"2016-06-11T08:04:43","date_gmt":"2016-06-11T13:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=77100"},"modified":"2016-06-13T08:06:17","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T13:06:17","slug":"local-tennis-complex-site-has-one-of-best-camps-in-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/06\/11\/local-tennis-complex-site-has-one-of-best-camps-in-ohio\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis complex hosts great tennis camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the Van Wert County Foundation Tennis Complex opened nearly five years ago, the sport has undergone a renaissance in the city, capped this year by Van Wert High School\u2019s first Western Buckeye League championship in nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n

\"Van<\/a>
Van Wert youngsters can get quality tennis instruction during the upcoming tennis camp held at the Van Wert County Foundation Tennis Complex behind the high school-middle school complex.<\/strong> (photo submitted)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wayne Kilton, one of several people who promoted development of the current tennis complex as a replacement for the city\u2019s aging and inadequate tennis courts, said the community exceeded expectations in providing the funds for the new complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community really came forth, whether it be businesses or individuals,\u201d Kilton said. \u201cThey were so generous \u2026 everyone was totally amazed at how (fundraising efforts) turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those efforts eventually led to the construction of probably the best tennis facility in the area, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to be the worst and now we\u2019re the best,\u201d Kilton said, noting that he has traveled to all the WBL facilities, as well as others in the area, and none can compare with the local complex.<\/p>\n

But having an excellent tennis facility makes it even more imperative to provide tennis education programs for city youngsters, he said.<\/p>\n

Summer tennis camps, now in their fifth year, have brought a large number of city youngsters in contact with a sport loved by Kilton and a number of other city players who have helped educate young people in the finer points of tennis.<\/p>\n

Kilton said an upcoming tennis camp, set for the week of July 11-15, continues education system that has only gotten better each year.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s saying a lot, since last year\u2019s Futures program (grades 6-8) was said to be the best such program in Ohio, Kilton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we had more kids (approximately 100) in grades 6-8 than anyone in the state,\u201d he noted, adding that the Futures program has been a \u201cfeeder system\u201d for the high school teams, which have shown steady improvement over the past several years, culminating in the boys\u2019 WBL title this year.<\/p>\n

Like previous years, Kilton said the emphasis remains on providing area youngsters with a quality tennis experience, adding that the program now in place uses United States Tennis Association training material and provides youngsters at three different levels (grades K-3, 4-5, and 6-8) with age-appropriate skill training and equipment.<\/p>\n

During the camp, each age division will have an hour-long training session each of the five days. Kids in grades K-3 will play from 6-7 p.m., kids in grades 4-5 will play from 7-8 p.m., and kids in the Futures program (grades 6-8) will play from 8-9 p.m. Each session is divided into 15-20-minute skill sessions.<\/p>\n

Cost of the camp is $55, but also includes a team uniform and an age-appropriate tennis racket. Younger kids use larger tennis balls to help them develop hand-eye coordination, but regulation-size balls are used for the Futures program.<\/p>\n

The camp is organized in a team format, with members of the champion Cougar boys\u2019 tennis team serving as coaches for each team. Registration deadline is Friday, June 17. While those wanting to attend can register after that date, the cost increases to $75 per person.<\/p>\n

Kilton said the upcoming tennis camp is an excellent way for youngsters to learn a game they can literally play their entire lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Since the Van Wert County Foundation Tennis Complex opened nearly five years ago, the sport has undergone a renaissance in the city, capped this year by Van Wert High School\u2019s first Western Buckeye League championship in nearly 50 years. Wayne Kilton, one of several people who promoted development of the current tennis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 09:43:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}