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School trains younger pro hopefuls
By RYAN DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2000
On one hand, Jessica Svoboda is an athlete in training, possibly for a professional career. On the other hand, she is a 10-year-old girl playing in the afternoon sun. She bounces on the green court from left foot to right, waiting to lay a left-handed return on a serve. But as she waits for a ball, Jessica slowly starts spinning, her racquet in front of her and her strawberry-blonde ponytail chasing her from behind. Jessica is one of 12 students enrolled in a new program at Saddlebrook Prep school, which embarked on a cautious journey last month across the narrow line between young children and sports. "This is about finding a way to make this work without making them one-dimensional too early," said Saddlebrook Prep Executive Director Greg Riehle. The resort's 8-year-old preparatory school, which touts itself as a training ground for would-be college and professional golfers and tennis players, expanded this year into elementary grades. Fourth- through sixth-graders now spend as much as five hours an afternoon playing sports, many of them striving to win tennis tournaments or break 90 on the golf course. The school will likely expand next year to include third grade, Riehle said. As far as anyone at Saddlebrook or those in the field know, the program, where both the intensive athletics and academics are provided by the school, is the only one of its kind in the country. Though unique, the school is just another piece in a national trend, according to Richard Lapchick, the director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport and Society. Kids are starting their quests for athletic success at younger and younger ages, and proof of that is tucked behind the palm tree-lined entrance to this resort. Golf, tennis and gymnastics are the most common sports for young athletes to start young and train intensely at, Lapchick said. "The obvious question it raises to me," he said, "is what happens to the childhood of the children who are in a pressure cooker like this." When parents spend big bucks to train their kids, they make their expectations tangible, Lapchick said. The resulting pressure is often more than a youngster can handle. It can destroy a family, he said. Saddlebrook has taken several precautions to safeguard against the pressure, Riehle said. The younger students are separated from the older ones, they are not allowed to board at school dormitories, and they are not required to immerse themselves in one sport. Instead, they play recreational sports that will prepare them to enter the sport of their choice. But they have the option to focus on one sport, and four of the 12 elementary students have made that choice. Once they pick a sport, the intensity heightens. "This is not recreational," tennis coach Chris Johnson said. "Their parents sent them here for a reason: to be collegiate and possibly pro." "When we say it's not recreational," he later added, "it's not boot camp either." At Saddlebrook Prep, which owns a Mercedes sedan to help transport students, fourth through sixth grades cost $9,400. If the kids train in a specific sport, the price jumps to $23,000 because there are just four students to each coach, Riehle said. Parents aren't pushing their kids so they can win big prize money, Riehle said. In fact, he said, it's the kids pushing their parents to be there. Some of the kids agree. "My dad thinks I shouldn't play so much tennis," 10-year-old Philip Gullan said, "but I just like it so much." The same goes for Jessica, the freckle-faced daughter of Petr Svoboda -- the Tampa Bay Lightning All-Star defenseman. She started the push for the program last summer, bugging her father because she wanted to attend the same school as her older sister. He, in turn, kept pestering Riehle. "It's wonderful for the kids to go to school right here in the gated community," said Petr Svoboda, who added that he regularly checks to make sure is daughter is not too tired from tennis. "I always like to keep my kids in sports. They help keep you out of trouble." Finally, last November, the director heeded Svoboda's plea. Satisfied with the results of the experiment, Riehle officially opened the program this year. "You don't know if they're going to make it or not," said Jimmy Brown, a former pro tennis player, current teacher at Saddlebrook and the father of fourth-grader Tyler. "But you have to give them the chance. If you don't start them in something by this age, it's too late." The students rise early to start school at 7:30 a.m. Until 12:05 p.m., Tammy Harkleroad, whose 15-year-old daughter plays tennis professionally, teaches them everything from math to Henri Matisse. With classical CD music playing on a computer and each student handling an electronic pocket dictionary, it's a modern-day one-room schoolhouse. After academics and lunch, sports start at 1 p.m. At the end of their first week, those students not choosing to play tennis or golf tossed a ball over a volleyball net to each other. While the tennis coaches barked at the high school kids, personal trainer Jeff Higuera encouraged the younger kids to "call the ball" and "work as a team." "Kids need to have fun, and this is work," said Riehle, pointing to the older students. "Some days (elementary kids) can take five hours, and some days they can take hardly any. Their bodies and attention span can't support it." That in mind, the fourth- through sixth-graders have the option of training for an hour or two in golf or tennis after a half session of recreational sports. That costs $16,000 a year, Riehle said. Even in the classroom, big serves and birdies are on their minds. During the first week of school, the topic was Sherlock Holmes, but Jessica was thinking tennis. Specifically, she pondered how one of her vocabulary words -- "deduce" -- relates to scouting a tennis opponent for a weakness. Of course, Jessica wasn't alone. Her teacher, whose daughter Ashley and her racquet are the screensaver on the class' computer, was also thinking tennis. That's how Harkleroad explained Sherlock Holmes' focus on crime solving to the exclusion of getting married. "That's the way we are with Ashley," she said to the class. "We don't want her to have boyfriends right now because she just totally loses focus with her tennis." Like Ashley, seven of nine students who filled out information cards said they want to be professional athletes. But what if that doesn't work out? The thought startles Jessica. Her 10-year-old eyes and seemingly much older personality stare straight ahead. "I never thought about that," she said. - Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at 800-333-7505 ext. 3452 or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com.
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