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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 2, 2003
Tennis recently was served to youths by the Police Athletic League of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
A week-long program, offered by Deputy Craig Corry and assisted by Resource Officers John Daniels and Greg Ferguson, attracted more than 15 players 8-14. "The improvement in the kids, even after the first couple of days, was amazing," Corry said. "The majority of the kids were either novice players or those with very little experience." The program was at Seminole High School, except for one trip to St. Petersburg Tennis Center where teaching professional Nigel Mazarohe put participants through drills and games.
"PAL ran a series of sports camps during the public schools' spring break," PAL Athletic Director Paul Hicks said. "When the kids are out of school, that's when we like to place our emphasis on keeping the kids busy. When Craig had expressed an interest in starting tennis, we talked about it, got together with Jeff Davis with USA Tennis Florida and formed a partnership. The spring break activity was the introduction for PAL tennis. We hope to expand that during the summer months."
Corry was St. Petersburg High's tennis coach for seven years while working as the school's resource officer. "Working with kids is my expertise and passion," Corry said. "I had helped Joe Smith with his summer camp at Eckerd College and felt something similar to that would benefit the PAL program."
Javon Goodridge of St. Petersburg was among the players at the PAL camp. Although he has little experience, the 14-year-old showed potential.
"I learned that playing tennis takes a lot of hustle," Goodridge said. "I play soccer, so I'm used to that." Other campers, such as Damian Lovett, 8, and Justin Wiley, 12, never had played but found the games while practicing skills a lot of fun.
"I'm excited at what I see in the developmental stages of this program," said Davis, a USA Community Coordinator for the state tennis organization. "They got to play some version of tennis while learning skills."
For program information, call 582-6200
CITY WINTER LEAGUE: The St. Petersburg Flex League completed its winter session and crowned six women and 11 men champions, along with a doubles winner. Undefeated were Kal Nekuasil (B-2 division), Tim Murphy (B-6) and Michael Roy (B-7). The women finishing without a loss were Janet Matthews (A-1) and Doris Stephens (B-3). In first with one loss were Ha Lee (B-4), Nik Sukhasam (men's A-1) and John Royeton (A-5). In A-3, Marc Zamanillo defeated Ken Dexter 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in a playoff for the title. In a B-5 playoff, Lloyd Hill beat Ron Martin 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Other winners included Lisa Franson (A-2), Toni Goodrich (B-1), Gail Pugh (B-2), Kurt Kammerer (A-4), Jay Fish (B-1), Lowell McKee (B-3) and Art Carta (B-4). The father-son doubles team of Terry and Scott Dunovan won 'A'. NET SHOTS: This week, the St. Petersburg Tennis Center's super senior men's 3.5 squad, winner of the South division in the USTA Super Senior Doubles League, plays host to Phil Green Tennis Academy's 3.5 team, the North champion. More than 120 players competed in the state-sanctioned Clearwater Spring Classic last weekend at McMullen Tennis Center. Top area finishers included Danielle Collins (girls 10 champ) and Philip Barlow and Zev Mandelker, the boys 16 and 10 winners, respectively. Among the area finalists were Nicole Mera (girls 12), Ashley Hungerford (14), Amanda Yogus (16) and Austin Kondor (boys 12). Semifinalists were Jamie Mera (girls 16), Nicola Wellman (12) and Ryan Buchanan (boys 18).
With two weeks of matches remaining in the Pinellas Area Doubles League, Royal Racquet II owns a three-point lead over Vinoy I with 94 points, although Vinoy I has yet to receive its bye week. Bardmoor III has 86 points and a one-point edge over Racquet Club I and Seminole Lakes. There's a three-way tie at 79 among Belleair, Countryside I and Phil Green Tennis Academy II. Close behind are Countryside II and Treasure Island I, deadlocked at 77.