Nathan }anick

Piofessoi }ulien
English 1u1
28 Apiil 2u14
Lineai veision
Woiking foi the Touu Naitin Bevelopment Funu (TNBF) was one of the
most iewaiuing expeiiences of my life. It was a piogiam that not only teaches
tennis, but life skills as well. Theie aie numeious success stoiies of kius in the
piogiam going on to play college tennis. The piogiam also helps kius giauuate fiom
high school anu gives them the suppoit anu help they neeu to attenu college.
uiowing up in Lansing Nichigan, Touu Naitin is a name eveiybouy in the
community knows. Be giew up playing at the same athletic club I playeu at anu was
at one point iankeu numbei 4 in the woilu. Be ieacheu the finals of two uianu
Slams anu has uevoteu countless houis giving back to the uieatei Lansing tennis
community. Founueu unuei the National }unioi Tennis League, the Touu Naitin
Bevelopment Funu was cieateu to allow any kiu no mattei what age, iace, oi
economic situation to enjoy the game of tennis.
While I nevei attenueu the camp, I was familiai with it since my coach hau
woikeu at the camp foi many yeais. Be iecommenueu me to Nancy Banhof who is
the executive uiiectoi of the whole chaiity. As she was explaining how the whole
piogiam woiks I immeuiately wanteu to be a pait of it. She explaineu to me how the
weekly fielu tiips eveiy fiiuay weie meant to let many of the kius exploie the woilu
beyonu the 2u block iauius aiounu theii house. These fielu tiips tuineu out to be
some of the most iewaiuing paits of woiking because you can see the kius' eyes
light up as they exploie the vaiious museums anu events we went to. The fielu tiips
incluueu going to the Binuei Paik Zoo, Boys }unioi Nationals, the Aiab Ameiican
Nuseum, anu the Nichigan Science Centei.
This summei I am woiking at the camp again anu it will be gieat to see how
many of the kius have not only giown as tennis playeis, but as people as well.
Retuining home aftei woik each uay maue me iealize how lucky I hau it giowing up.
It exposeu me to the ieal impoitance of giving back because I coulu see the impact
we weie having on some of these kius' lives.
Foi my aitifact I choose my TNBF counseloi polo which is much moie than
just a shiit. It symbolizes leaueiship both on anu off the couits. We weai it eveiy
Nonuay when the guest speakeis come anu eveiy Fiiuay when we go on the fielu
tiips. Eveiy week we have a leaueiship theme anu as counselois we leau uiscussions
about it with the kius. Themes vaiy fiom teamwoik, to eating healthy, to iace. We
stiive to ieinfoice the themes thiough uiffeient activities anu uiills on anu off the
couit thioughout the week. 0ften the Fielu tiip at the enu of the week ties into the
theme foi example going to the Aiab Ameiican Nuseum uuiing the week centeieu
aiounu iace. These polos show us counselois in a light of leaueiship allowing us to
leau these uiscussions anu help the kius giow anu uevelop impoitant leaueiship anu
life skills.
While I was only a pait of the summei camp piogiam, the Touu Naitin
Bevelopment funu helps kius yeai iounu. Nichelle summeu up the puipose best:
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I also thought it was impoitant to show the impact that Aithui Ashe has hau
on this countiy. Be uiu so much foi the spoit of tennis, AIBS ieseaich, anu iace
ielations, yet many young people uon't ieally know his name. Aithui Ashe cieateu
the National }unioi Tennis League (N}TL) which inspiieu Touu Naitin to cieate a
similai piogiam in Lansing. The Touu Naitin uevelopment funu is founueu unuei
the N}TL. Aithui Ashe is still celebiateu touay, with the Aithui Ashe Awaiu foi
Couiage given out at the ESPYS eveiy yeai anu the Centei Couit at the 0S 0pen is
nameu aftei him. Be is the only Afiican Ameiican to win titles at Wimbleuon, the 0S
0pen, anu the Austialian 0pen. Be also won Spoits Illustiateu's Spoitman of the
yeai, which is aiguably the most piestigious awaiu in spoits.
Aithui Ashe not only was extiemely successful on the couit, but it can be
aigueu that he hau a gieatei influence on Ameiica off the couit. Not only uiu he
cieate the N}TL, but he was a leauei in the fight foi iacial equality thioughout the
woilu. Be helpeu the fight to enu Apaitheiu anu the tieatment of Baitian iefugees.
Be contiacteu AIBS thiough a bloou tiansfusion anu when askeu if AIBS was the
haiuest thing he hau to ueal with he ieplieu, "No, the haiuest thing I've evei hau to
ueal with is being a black man in this society." Aithui Ashe uieu of AIBS in 199S, but
his impact is still felt in my life in auuition to millions of otheis. People iecognize the
name }ackie Robinson, but it is easy to aigue that Aithui Ashe uiu moie both on anu
off the playing fielu. Bis unselfishness anu high chaiactei is what the instiuctois of
the Touu Naitin Bevelopment Funu tiy to ieplicate anu teach to the campeis.
When I fiist saw this viueo about the Compton Ciicket Club, I immeuiately
thought of TNBF because it has many of the same objectives that the Touu Naitin
Bevelopment Funu employs. Even though the cities anu spoits aie uiffeient, the
Compton Ciicket Club anu the Touu Naitin Bevelopment Funu both use spoits as a
way to expose people to paits of the woilu they woulu otheiwise nevei get to see.
Nultiple people inteivieweu in this viueo uesciibe how Ciicket has bioaueneu theii
hoiizon anu shown them that theie is moie to the woilu than just theii hoou. The
TNBF achieves this with many of the campeis thiough the weekly fielu tiips
thioughout the state of Nichigan.
In my inteiview with Nichelle, she ieally summeu up the impoitance of these
themes anu how they go along with oui fielu tiips when she saiu: "the fielu tiips tie
into oui weekly themes so it's an extia way to help them unueistanu anu expeiience
the theme. Thioughout the yeai, the kius use the fielu tiips as talking points oi a
iefeience foi knowing oi unueistanu long ceitain concepts (if that makes sense).
The expeiience uefinitely opens up theii woilu to see how many moie possibilities
theie aie foi them."
The Touu Naitin Bevelopment Funu combines the tennis teachings of the
0STA, the values of Aithui Ashe, anu ieplicates methous of othei oiganizations that
expose kius to what lies outsiue theii woilu thiough tiips. The ieseaich behinu the
uiffeient levels of tennis balls shows that kius maintain bettei foim when the
equipment fits theii size anu ability piopeily. Whenevei a paient woulu as why
theii kiu isn't using the official ball anu a smallei iacket, I woulu explain how in
eveiy othei spoit kius stait off with smallei equipment anu a smallei fielu anu now
tennis is making that aujustment too.
In iecent yeais 0niteu States tennis has fallen behinu othei countiies,
especially in Euiope. As a iesponse to this, the 0niteu States Tennis Association
(0STA) cieateu a new line of tennis balls foi uiffeient skill levels in oiuei to teach
kius the piopei foim anu footwoik befoie moving up to a fastei ball. The Reu Bot
balls aie useu foi beginneis on a couit set up with a poitable net that is
peipenuiculai to the actual net on the couit. These balls aie 7S% slowei than the
official yellow balls. We useu these balls with beginneis anu kius ages S-8.
The 0iange Bot balls aie the balls we useu the most. These aie inteimeuiate
balls anu aie useu on a couit that is slightly shoitei than the official size. They aie
Su% slowei than the official ball. We useu these with the auvanceu youngei kius
anu beginneis at the miuule school ages.
The uieen Bot balls aie the final step befoie moving up to the yellow balls.
We piimaiily useu them with the high schooleis who weie beginneis. They aie 2S%
slowei than Yellow Balls anu we useu them with high schooleis who weie
beginneis.
The yellow ball is the official tennis ball that is useu in touinaments. The kius
woulu always beg us to use them, but when we uiu biing them out to show them
they quickly iealizeu that they stiuggleu with the fastei ball anu weie happy to go
back to the othei balls.
The Touu Naitin Bevelopment Funu has its shaie of success stoiies. Nany
have gone on to play college tennis incluuing Becca who I inteivieweu. She staiteu
playing tennis at age 9 with the Touu Naitin piogiam. These success stoiies like
Becca not only happen because of the tennis instiuction, but because of the
leaueiship anu life skills that aie taught. Without Aithui Ashe this piogiam
woulun't even exist so if one thing shoulu be taken fiom this whole pioject its that
Aithui Ashe is still impacting peoples lives 2u yeais aftei his ueath.