Category: Coaches Corner

Beginning May 30, over 600 boys and girls from across New York City will compete in the nation’s largest scholastic tennis event: NYJTL’s 27^th Annual Mayors Cup All-Scholastic Championship. Eight of those young players attend PS 100 in the Bronx, where they’ve learned the game under the tutelage of NYJTL Activity Specialist Jeff Lawrence. 

A native of the Soundview section of the Bronx, Jeff began playing tennis at age 13, when he joined NYJTL’s community program at the Bronx International Youth Tennis Center.

“I liked tennis immediately,” he says. “My coaches showed me the ropes and they were really positive. Some of them are still at NYJTL today, which is cool.”

Jeff went on to play varsity tennis at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, and attended Lehman College. But NYJTL was never far from his heart. He began working with kids in the summer program at Bronx International, and then became an assistant coach in the afterschool Aces Club program at PS 100.

Today, as an Activity Specialist, he teaches tennis, healthy living skills, science and literacy, and more to over 100 first-through-fifth-graders each year, including the 21 students who participate on the school’s tournament team. From that group, the top eight players will compete in this year’s Mayors Cup – and that means extra practice. To prepare for the tournament, Jeff has been taking the players to the spot where he first fell in love with tennis, Bronx International, for weekend practice sessions.

“At this point, we’re working on things like technique, positioning and strategy,” he says. “Our top three players want to win the Mayors Cup. For the others, the main goal is to get some good experience.”

While he enjoys coaching the tournament team, Jeff knows that tennis has an important role in the character development of all the kids he works with in the Aces Club.

“With TV and video games today, kids are used to instant gratification,” he says. “Learning how to play tennis is a process. We teach kids the importance of being patient, and not getting frustrated if they can’t do something right away.”

The Mayors Cup runs from May 30 to June 7, and will be held in two locations: the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows and at the new Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the Crotona Park in the South Bronx. For more information, click here.

Athneal Philip used to serve up meals. Now he’s serving up success.

Athneal is a tennis coach and site director at New York Junior Tennis and Learning. The Queens resident works with elementary students in the after-school ACES program at PS 215 in Gravesend, Brooklyn.

“This is an important program in New York City,” he says. “There’s lot of parents who really don’t have the finances available to be able to afford to teach their kids tennis and have them play on courts. The ACES program allows the parents to work while their kids have a place to go.”

Athneal was employed as a chef at hotels in Antigua for years, before moving to Wayne, Pennsylvania in 2001, and then New York City a year later. In Antigua, he had worked as an assistant tennis coach as well, and continued to coach in the United States.

“I love the game of tennis,” he says. “I started when I was nine years old and I’ve been playing every since.”

Athneal first started with NYJTL nine years ago, working part-time in the afternoons as a tennis coach at PS 19 in Corona, Queens. “I love to see kids play tennis, the smiles on their faces when they hit a ball over the net, especially the young ones,” he says.

Additionally, he works with NYJTL’s Community Tennis Programs, serving as a site director at the Manhattan Plaza site, and coaching at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, too. This summer, he will be at Manhattan Plaza and Brandeis High School.

He enjoys watching youngsters learn and grow in the after-school program.

“I think it’s a good program; its helps the family,” he says. “The kids are not just sitting there, but they are learning something valuable they can take with them the rest of their lives.”

And, he still enjoys cooking dishes reflecting all ethnicities. “In the Caribbean, you have to cook international dishes because you have visitors from all over the world,” he says, “so I like to cook everything.”

Rodney Dinkins has traveled the world extensively.

“The only place I have not been yet is the Far East,” says Dinkins, a former Account Manager for British Airways. “You meet different people, and see different ways of life.”

The satisfaction he achieves by his global encounters mirrors the joy he experiences at home. As a Tennis Coach for NYJTL’s ACES After-school Program, Dinkins has met countless students from all walks of life.

“I love tennis, and I really like kids. I find it very gratifying being around them,” he says.

His Senior Tennis Program Manager, York Chu, says Dinkins really connects with the kids.

“He is super into bettering the life of any kid he comes in contact with through tennis or any walk of life. He has a great heart,” he says.

Dinkins has worked with NYJTL for much of the last decade, and says he stumbled up on it by chance. He had been independently teaching tennis, and happened to be passing a tennis court where an instructor was incorrectly teaching a skill to youngsters.

He approached the site director to ask to help, and the director jumped at the chance, noting the challenge she faced in recruiting someone to come to Staten Island to instruct kids.

“So I volunteered,” said Dinkins, who was born on Staten Island and still lives there. “I was invited to be the instructor, and then became site director for two years at Port Richmond High School.”

He later was transferred to the program at P.S. 302 in East New York, and then P.S. 250 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he has now worked for the last three years. Each week, he helps about 100 students – in kindergarten through fifth grade – with their homework, and then leads them in warm-ups and tennis drills.

He points out many kids don’t think they can run fast, so he holds races and awards prizes, and tells them that “even if you aren’t the fastest runner, you can compete.”

Working with the children year-round, he watches them grow and prosper, bringing a smile to his face. “Watching kids blossom like a flower is a great thing,” he says. “They build confidence, self-esteem.”

NYJTL is dramatically changing their lives, he says. “Schools today don’t have a big physical fitness component,” he says. “So a lot of them would be at home playing with their thumbs. I hope programs like this are always available to children.”

Few things thrill Joyce Short more than watching the kids she coaches at the Roosevelt Island Community Tennis Program learn and grow.  But there’s added significance for her when she sees girls, in particular, excel.

Joyce grew up before the 1972 Title IX legislation created equal opportunities for girls to participate in sports. She played tennis and competed in citywide tournaments as a one- and three-meter springboard diver in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. She was the City Champion in the 16-and-under category. But her high school had no varsity teams for girls. As a University of Georgia co-ed, she was only allowed to use the diving board in the “men’s pool,” two hours per week.

Today, Joyce relishes the opportunity to be a role model for all young people, but especially girls. “I hope that the fact that I’m here coaching as a female athlete will speak volumes to them about their potential,” she says.

So it’s no surprise that even with a busy career in the business world – which included a position as Salomon Brothers’ first ever female bond trader – she has continually made time to coach youth sports.

In 1988, she was coaching a little league team and giving private tennis lessons when a youngster on Roosevelt Island asked her to start a youth program.  She agreed, and the next day he came back with 35 of his friends, eager to learn the game.

Two years later, Skip Hartman opened the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club and enlisted her to create a NYJTL program.  Every year since, Joyce has directed the club’s NYJTL winter program, and has run the other seasonal programs as often as her other job responsibilities have allowed.

For the most part, she says, the kids today are the same as they have always been, with one noticeable difference: “With the Internet and cable TV, they now follow professional tennis a lot more, which is great because it makes them even more motivated to play.”

Joyce’s current role is wide ranging.  As the Site Director, she manages a staff of three, creates the curriculum, and instructs youngsters who come to the program from all over the city at 6:00am on Saturdays and Sundays.  As NYJTL’s District Developer for Manhattan and Eastern Queens, she recruits schools and helps them to incorporate tennis into their physical education curriculums.

“If we can get kids bitten by the tennis bug while we have a captive audience in school gyms, there’s a better chance they’ll be motivated to come out and participate in the programming that will enable them to build their skills and become lifelong players,” she says.
Despite her many responsibilities, Joyce always makes sure to have time on the court, teaching the game that she has loved for over sixty years to the next generation of players.

“We teach the kids tennis, but also skills that they can apply in the real world,” Joyce says.  “In a sense, we’re building character one point at a time.”

The years spent in primary school are particularly important to children’s long-term educational success. Sean Butler recognizes how best to reach the students in the afterschool program at P.S. 146 in the South Bronx, educating them about proper nutrition and the importance of embracing an active lifestyle. Engaging, interactive and fun, Sean has a positive impact on students.

This Nutrition Activity Specialist with New York Junior Tennis & Learning weaves adventurous storylines and catchy mantras into his lessons about health and wellness. For instance, he creates a space alien character to help elementary students grasp the importance of healthy living. The space alien travels a great distance to planet earth and laments bad eating habits. “The character talks about ‘sometimes foods’ versus ‘everyday foods’,” Sean says. “Sometimes foods” are those such as high-sugar beverages and other high-fat or salty sweets that one can have some of the time. But if a student is eating “sometime foods” all of the time, it weakens the body. Instead, the space alien recommends “everyday foods,” basic food group staples such as vegetables and fruits that should be enjoyed everyday. “If you are eating these ‘everyday foods’, you will have the energy to run, laugh and play, to do your homework longer,” he says. “The elementary-age kids love that story and have become highly aware of what foods are healthier for them.”

Sean also infuses hands-on experiences into lessons, which are part of NYJTL’s Healthy Living Initiative, which was designed with EmblemHealth and introduced at 16 afterschool programs in the city. The children work with him to make healthy dishes, such as black bean burritos, banana-strawberry crunch, and brain booster salads (with blue and purple vegetables known to boost memory retention). “I’m zany, and passionate about this,” he says. “I try to be as animated as possible. You have to be sincere and engaging with messages of healthy living with elementary students or it’s not going to work. You can’t talk about the benefits of healthy living and walk into the work place with an unhealthy meal from a fast-food restaurant. Children are very visual and your words have to match what they see in your instruction. Leading by example is the best way you want them to learn.”

A graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, Sean is a certified personal trainer who is studying at Lehman College to earn a degree in Exercise Science. A travel and wine enthusiast, he first joined NYJTL in 2009 as a Group Leader. He later was promoted to Activity Specialist, and soon after specialized in nutrition. “I know what the human body needs to keep working at an optimum level,” he says, “This is something I live every day; it’s my life.”

He interacts with students afterschool each weekday. All participate in light-workout physical activity lessons, and improve their thinking while they get their hearts pumping. “Kids like to jump around a lot,” he says. “So, I use a lot of Plyometrics; it’s engaging and fun. I call my lessons ‘Team Healthy Heart’. We have a chant where I say, ‘A healthy heart is a healthy what?’ and the students reply “A healthy brain’. There are two ways to keep kids healthy. One is through what they eat, and the other is through exercise.”

He segues into lessons about proper nutrition, explaining different food groups before closing each lesson by preparing a dish for students. He endeavors to change their thinking, and their habits, early in life so they can enjoy better health. “If you are in good health, you can pursue any dreams you have in life,” he says. “If you are in poor health, it can be difficult. I want my students to have a good quality of life.” Sean adds, “What motivates me is knowing that I am having a positive impact on the future of these children and the community by combatting health issues that plague the South Bronx, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, all of which are caused by poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle. I’m thankful to NYJTL for giving me this opportunity to help my community.”

Andre Sinclair has served as a Tennis Coach at New York Junior Tennis & Learning since 1997. A native of the Jamaica, he first fell in love with tennis when he was 16 years old and later pursued a career as a coach.  Sinclair enjoys working with youth as they develop a love for – and expertise at – tennis.

“It gives me a chance to teach them something new or even about themselves, and at the same time I learn from them,” he says, “because every child is different. I love working with kids and with the hope of them getting into college and even going professional.”

He is a Role Model, Group Leader and Activity Specialist at the Co-op City Tennis Club, where he previously served as the Acting Site Director and Tennis Coach. Sinclair also serves as the coach of The Ursuline School Varsity Tennis team, which won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association State Championship in 2013.

He has won recognition – twice – as Coach of the Year by the Westchester Journal News in 2012 and 2013.

In his current role, he taught Christian Waldron, who recently won the Mayor’s Cup, and Brandon Torres, the recent winner of NYJTL’s Arthur Ashe Essay Contest and who is now ranked No. 1 in the Eastern 12 and Under category.

He says tennis is more than about perfecting skill on the court.

“It teaches children and youth how to develop good sportsmanship skills, how to listen and follow rules, and at the same time how to be creative both on the court and in their lives,” he says.  Accordingly, he regularly imparts life lessons.

“Regardless of whether they want to pursue tennis or something else in life, they must remember that it’s not about practice making perfect,” he says. “It’s perfect practice makes perfect, and if they are on the tennis court, they should play hard but also play smart.”