Handpainted Glassware s a young girl growing up in Lepanto, Benguet, Philippines, I cherished the opportunity to participate in tennis clinics. These clinics were instrumental in my development as a player and led me to play juniors competitive tennis in the Philippines and Asia.
After moving to the United States on a tennis scholarship to the University of Central Oklahoma, and continuing my tennis career as a professional instructor in Oklahoma, I’ ve made it a priority to offer free clinics in the Philippines every year. The tennis community back home is my extended family, and I love giving back each time I visit.
This past January, I had the privilege of hosting tennis and pickleball clinics in the Philippines. I organized four clinics to provide continuing tennis instruction— and introduced pickleball for the first time! We hosted free clinics in Valenzuela, Vigan, Baguio City and Pangasinan( Philippines). All the players who tried pickleball loved it! Some were having so much fun, they played more pickleball than tennis! I quickly realized pickleball could have a huge impact on Philippine sports— as well as the local economy.
The high cost of tennis racquets, strings, balls, shoes, lessons and court fees are more than most families can afford, but pickleball allows children and families to continue to play racquet sports. Since badminton is already very popular in the Philippines, there are already courts available for pickleball.
In order to promote pickleball on a larger scale in the Philippines, we’ re creating the first annual pickleball conference in January 2019. The conference will be for the Philippine Sports Commission, Department of Education, sports coordinators, coaches, physical education teachers, and sports facilities to learn more about the sport of pickleball. The goal is to win approval of the primary, secondary and collegiate school levels to incorporate pickleball into their curriculums. In addition, the conference will promote pickleball to parents, other adults and athletes.
For information on how you can help provide pickleball and sports opportunities to underprivileged youth in the Philippines, email jenny. marcos @ swcu. edu or visit sfflc. com.
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MAY / JUNE 2018 | MAGAZINE 67