Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 22, 1995                   TAG: 9506230025
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YOU DON'T NEED A TEAM TO PLAY THIS SPORT

``Playing tennis takes very little money,'' said Boo Andrews, who is helping coordinate this year's Roanoke Valley Junior Tennis Program with Nancy Revercomb. ``You can pick up a racket for about $15 and a can of balls and go play, and you only need one other person.''

The program is being sponsored by the Roanoke Parks and Recreation department and is an effort to get children interested in something other than just team sports during the summer. Revercomb and Andrews have volunteered to conduct this year's junior tennis program which will begin June 26 and last until Aug 5.

``The response so far has been wonderful,'' Revercomb said as she and Andrews sat surrounded by mounds of registration forms at a picnic table at the Crystal Spring Tennis Courts a couple of Saturdays ago. They had been there for nearly three hours and already had registered 50 children ages 5 to 17, not counting those who mailed in their registration forms. Last year the program had 120 players.

``We both said we were going to let someone else do it this year,'' Andrews said, ``but here we are again.''

This is the fourth year the junior tennis program has been active. Andrews says it's also going to be one of their better years.

``Last year, we would have matches going at Huff Lane, Wasena and Lincoln Terrace, and I would drive from court to court to keep track of what each group was doing,'' she said. ``But this year our central meeting place for everything will be at Crystal Springs.''

Everything includes: a beginners' class where children can also enroll in the Dunlop Fun In Tennis Program that rewards each participant for their accomplishments throughout the summer; the intermediate sessions for those who can keep the ball in play, keep score and serve; and the United States Tennis Association Team Tennis program that will enhance sportsmanship and help young players who want to improve their game.

The cost for each session, which includes beginner, intermediate, teen-age, 5 and 6-year-olds groups and USTA Team Tennis, range from $18 to $30. Participants must bring their own balls and racket. Financial assistance is available for those who need it.

``One lady called us and said she couldn't afford to send both her children, so we made a deal with her where she got two in the program for the price of one,'' Andrews said. That's the extent of how deeply Andrews and Revercomb want to see children playing tennis.

So much so that they have even asked the Northwest Tennis Club to participate in their program.

Frank Bonds, head instructor at Northwest, said he would also like to see children play tennis all year round.

Even though the Northwest group holds a tennis clinic during the summer at Eureka Park, Bonds said he believes having children from Northwest Roanoke interact with the Roanoke Valley Junior Tennis Team would benefit minority children and hopefully encourage a long term interest in tennis.

``We don't want to be separated from the rest of the tennis community,'' he said. ``We all want to be under the same umbrella.''

``We don't have enough minority kids playing tennis. We don't want to see them limited to just team sports... We want to encourage them to get into more than just basketball and baseball,'' he added.

Membership at Northwest, which began in 1992, is roughly 26 adult members and about 12 children. Bonds said they are trying to get at least eight to 10 kids in the Roanoke Valley Junior Tennis Program.