Its all Over for another season

Hey Everyone!

Thank you for following the exploits of the SFA Panther Tennis Team this spring.

It was by far the worse season weather wise on record. With six rain outs / postponements. What should have been our best effort became our worse.

For the record we ended the season with a record of four wins and four loses.
Realistically, our record should have been six wins and two loses.
Nevertheless, I teach my athletes to take the hand they are dealt and play it until the bitter end. It ain't over to the fat man sings, and that's me!

Our donations were down this year due to the slumping econonmy. We are going to continue our fundraising efforts so we can get new uni's for next fall season 2009. We are also talking about taking a trip to Hilton Head Island, SC next spring break. We would like to visit the Van De Meer World class Tennis Center for a week.

The team and I have set several goals for ourselves. I will outline these in my next blog.

We are again hosting our annual end of season "Crab Feast & Cook-Out"! The date for this years event is Monday June 1st, 1:00 - 3:00pm at Druid Hill Park in the pavillion next to the playground up top by the stadium courts. Same place as last years event.

The SFA Varsity Tennis Team will also be hosting a free tennis clinic for inner city youth on Saturday May 23 from 10:00am - 12:00pm. The clinic will be held on the Lakeside courts next to Park Pool. Any Baltimore City youth ages 5 - 13 are eligible.
We will be providing snacks at the end of the event. Racquets and balls will be provided. This clinic is being sponsored by the Baltimore-Metropolitan Urban Tennis Organization & Saint Frances Academy.

Also, fifteen members of the tennis team and Baltimore community will be traveling with my wife and I to The College of William & Mary for the third year to attend the Peak Performance and Development Tennis Camp. The dates for this years camp are June 18 - 22, 2009. The camp scholarships are being donated by the Mid-Atlantic Tennis & Education Foundation.

Lastly, this commentary. It is a sad day when the children of Baltimore City that want to learn the lifetime sport of tennis have very few safe places to learn & play.
Gone are the days when a kid could walk a few blocks and play tennis in the local park or on the courts of the local /neighborhood high school. There never seems to be a problem finding a new shining basketball court and rim, or a new turf football field. Of course we know that these are revenue generating sports so they should be nice places to play/compete. But what about the non-revenue generating sports?
Don't they count? Are not these our children too? The deplorable conditions of some of these tennis facilities is shameful! When is the last time you looked at the the tennis courts at Western, City, Northwestern, Douglas, Lake Clifton high schools? Maybe we would have another Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson, Zina Garrison, Rodney Harmon, James Blake, Venus or Serena Williams. If the powers that be give tennis the real resources, dollars, and support they give to Basketball and Football, we might have one!

I was taught growing up that if its to be it's up to me!
With that being said I have started back up the Baltimore-Metropolitan Urban Tennis Organization. The sole purpose of the community based organization is to support, promote, and grow the game of tennis in our communities. Making the game / sport of tennis both affordable and acessable for all!

We thank you in advance for your support!

Coach Owens