Elgin athlete helps teach kids his favorite sport
When Xaysanit “Ko” Norasith moved to Elgin, Ping-Pong was his sport.
He was about 15 years old and a regular at Ping-Pong tournaments, continuing with the sport he loved growing up in Laos.
Then Norasith found tennis, and it changed his life.
“I started developing from Ping-Pong to tennis pretty quickly because I had the basics,” Norasith said.
In his opinion, the footwork is the same and both are fast-paced sports.
Now Norasith is the president of Elgin's Lao American Community Tennis Association (LACTA), director of a new QuickStart program aimed at bringing tennis to Elgin youth and a competitor in United States Tennis Association tournaments.
He even named his son after tennis great Andre Agassi.
Norasith's son grew up watching him play tennis, started acting as the ball boy as soon as he could walk and began training when he was 5 years old. Now, Andre Norasith is the top singles player at South Elgin High School. The duo won their first USTA father-son tournament in South Barrington in March.
His son helps Norasith run the QuickStart program, welcoming kids of all ages to learn tennis.
“I want those kids to have a healthy life and be able to come out and enjoy the nice sunny day instead of sitting at home after school playing games,” Norasith said. “That's not a healthy lifestyle.”
The free, one-hour training sessions start at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays on the tennis courts at Lords Park, on Grand Boulevard in Elgin. Interested kids must register as a member of LACTA, which costs $5 annually.
Norasith said the program is set to run through June 19 and then pick up again next spring.
“We try to reach out to the kids,” Norasith said. “They never got a chance to play tennis, never got a chance to come out and explore tennis.”
LACTA, which formed in the middle of 2010, started the local QuickStart program with funding from the United States Tennis Association. Most of the kids involved are beginners.
In the last 20 years, Norasith has honed his tennis skills and become a talented opponent. He said he practices every day, and outside as often as possible. One of his best memories is of a time when Channing Elementary School had six tennis courts that were available for public use.
“Every weekend we used to have tournaments and picnics,” Norasith said. “We had so much fun.”
Those courts aren't there anymore, but with support from Judson University, Norasith said tournaments have still been possible in Elgin — at least since LACTA started.
The tennis-playing Norasith is different from his Ping-Pong pro younger self who arrived in the United States in 1988. Now Norasith said it's hard to pick up the tiny paddles and play a game of Ping-Pong. In a recent effort, Norasith said it took him a few minutes to even hit the ball.
“Hitting the big puffy yellow ball and then the little orange ball, the first swing I missed it,” Norasith said.
To join LACTA or get involved with QuickStart, contact Norasith at xkoandre@yahoo.com or visit lactaofelgin.usta.com/.