Southdown School Embraces Tennis
It’s an annual thing. The Southdown Primary School PTA has an ongoing interest in promoting physical fitness. The organization collaborates each year with the physical education department to bring a new program into the gym and enhance the curriculum.
This year’s PTA-PE initiative focused on tennis. Physical education teacher Theresa Matthews called Bill Mecca of United States Tennis Association to see if that organization was interested in getting involved. The answer came back: sure.
For the price of a school membership, the USTA provided Southdown with 30 child sized tennis rackets, six dozen indoor tennis balls and two pop-up nets. The USTA also contacted Huntington Indoor Tennis to facilitate an instructional two-day program for students.
Over the course of the two days, Huntington Indoor Tennis instructors Jose Santana, Giovanna Galante, and Rich Rottkamp taught a variety of skills and students enjoyed a unique experience that they never would have had if not for the generosity of the school’s PTA.
“Tennis is a terrific individual and team sport that our students can play throughout their lifetime,” Mrs. Matthews said. “Both Finley and Huntington High School have competitive teams and the Town of Huntington provides programs throughout the year. With the US Open at Flushing Meadows each August, our students have professional tennis at their doorstep.”
Southdown’s first year Principal Scott Oshrin quickly endorsed the initiative. “Tennis is a passion of mine,” he said. “I coached the varsity tennis team at Oyster Bay High School during my teaching days. It’s important to instill a love of sports and fitness at a very early age. Thank you to the PE staff, PTA, USTA and Huntington Indoor for working to provide our students with such an outstanding opportunity.”