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Health & Fitness

UCS students serve up fun at annual sports camps

More than 50 different camps offered to keep kids active during the summer months

This summer, boys and girls 5 to 8 years of age are learning the basics of
tennis during a five-week “Rookies” camp – just one of some 50 different youth
and teen sports camps operated by Utica Community Schools Adult and Community
Education.

Coached by former UCS student-athletes who now play tennis in
college, the young campers are learning to properly grip their rackets and to
put ground strokes, forehands, backhands and volleys into practice. The goal is
to have fun, make friends and learn new skills, not produce the next Maria
Sharapova or Roger Federer.

“Tennis is a life-long sport,” said head
coach Matt Fisher, a 2005 Eisenhower High School alumnus who is pursuing a
master’s degree in business administration on a tennis scholarship from Wayne
State University. This is his seventh year working at the camp, teaching the
game he loves. He also teaches children and adults at Peachtree Tennis Club in
Clinton Township.

Peggy Oddo, mother of six-year-old twins Gabby and Michael, who attend Morgan Elementary, thinks the camp is well-run. She said she likes to keep all five of her children active and organized when school is not in session, and sports camps fill the bill. She added that Michael hops out of bed in the morning and the first thing he asks is if it’s time to go to tennis.

The beginner camps are offered for age groups up to 17 and held
at Eisenhower. But if tennis is not among your child’s interests, there are
plenty of other opportunities for him or her try something new this summer –
available throughout Utica Schools. Find out more at www.ucscommunityeducation.com

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