A taste of tennis for a good cause at Jacobs H.S.

Teaching tennis to little kids is all about patience ... and entertainment.

That’s the philosophy that recent Jacobs High School graduate Anna Taylor has abided by for the last two years while teaching tennis at clinics and summer camps for little ones. Taylor, who will attend Bradley University in the fall, was among more than a dozen area high schoolers who took on the role of tennis instructor during two one-hour clinics Sunday.

“You have to be patient, but you also have to keep it fun because if you just teach them, they get bored, and they want to leave,” said Taylor, a member of Jacobs’ varsity tennis team. “You have to keep them interested.”

The clinics for youth in kindergarten through eighth grade were held in the outdoor tennis courts at Jacobs, but the young instructors were students from Hampshire, Huntley and McHenry high schools, said Jacobs tennis coach Jonathan Betts. The sessions cost $5, with all proceeds going to the district’s Special Olympics programs.

Rebecca Hedderich, of Carpentersville, watched from the sidelines under the hot sun as 6-year-old daughter Emily learned the fundamentals of tennis, including basic forehand, a forehand volley and basic backhand.

“It’s a good opportunity for her to try it out. I had no idea (Jacobs High School) offers so many programs,” Hedderich said.

Among the youngest students was 4-year-old Delaney Mogge, of Sleepy Hollow, who came with her 8-year-old brother, Conner. Older sister Keely, 10, took part in the clinic last year, said their mother, Jennifer Mogge, who just retired after 19 years as tennis coach at Conant High School.

“Coach Betts is phenomenal,” Mogge said. “He always has more than enough girls (on the tennis team) signing up for these programs.”

The clinics help young athletes be actively involved in their communities, but they also help improve their own tennis skills, Betts said. “It helps their tennis game because they are on the other side, and they get to see another perspective of some of the same things they are working on.”

Ten-day coed tennis camps will be offered in June and July on the Jacobs High School tennis courts. For more information, email jonathan.betts@d300.org or visit www.athletics2000.com/jacobs/registration/.