Coaches from Adelphi University and LIU Post have partnered to bring Tiger Tennis & Swim Camp to children on Long Island. The Brookville tennis day camp will mix athletic exercise and skill building with fun and open play.
Camp director Walter Giacometti, who coaches tennis at Adelphi University, and co-director Darrel Bielawski, head coach of the women’s tennis team at LIU Post, have teamed up to host the first session of Tiger Tennis & Swim Day Camp, a weekly program for kids 6 and older that runs for nine weeks, on June 29.
The college tennis coaches, who have been working together on various kids tennis programs for more than a decade, say the philosophy of the camp is to create a positive experience for kids while stimulating an interest in athletics.
Camp will be held at LIU Post from 9:30am-4pm, Monday-Friday through Aug. 28. Each day will begin with a group athletic exercise—a daily activity designed to foster team spirit, the coaches say. The structure of each day allows for a healthy mix of strategy and skill building, team competition, as well as supervised free swim and open play time.
“We really try to promote team play throughout the day at our camps so kids will get a sense of comradery,” says Bielawski.
For competitive games, kids are matched by age and skill level. Throughout the program, older players or outside teams will be brought in to help challenge the kids on the court. The coaches’ extensive experience and access to college players is a unique advantage, says Giacometti, who also runs a year-round tennis program for preschoolers called Teddy Tennis.
A fun perk of the program will be an outing to the US Open qualifiers, where campers can “get up close and personal with some of the professionals,” according to Bielawski. That trip is being planned for later this summer.
Registration is open online and is offered on a weekly basis, with discounts available for multi-week registration.
Above photo: Coach Darrel Bielawski and the 2014-2015 LIU Post women’s tennis team
