Tennis Industry News

What’s in a name? For this Community Tennis Association, its mission is its name: QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia Inc. is all about growing tennis using the QST format, for players 10 and under.

This special-purpose CTA was founded by Lynda Harrill in May 2009, after she worked with QuickStart Tennis format in Albemarle County, Va. She established QCV Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, as a starting point for kids to get involved in the sport for a lifetime in primarily rural counties.

During 2009, Harrill took QST to kids in Charlottesville and seven surrounding counties and believed the approach could be successfully replicated throughout central Virginia where tennis is not a household word and not part of any school curriculum. Some of these counties have no public tennis courts.

QCV not only “grows” young tennis players, putting them on the path toward more instruction and programs as they get older, but the CTA also acts as a “think tank” for finding new ways for tennis to be a positive influence on kids and identifying ways to connect a variety of people through sharing a passion for tennis. Harrill says the process involves "turning over rocks and connecting the dots,” which has led to the creation of initiatives such as “Jump Start QuickStart Tennis,” “Go Bananas for QuickStart!” and “Grow Veggies for QuickStart!”

One of the latest QCV ideas involves working with the University of Virginia Curry School of Education to develop “QuickStarters,” a middle school-based "kids mentoring  kids" program for at-risk kids, for the Childhood Obesity Task Force.

Recently, QCV made an equipment grant to Orange Elementary School so that 640 students in pre-K through fifth grade will have the opportunity to learn tennis in PE classes. Orange County PE teachers participated in QST training last May and this past fall. QCV buys equipment as grant money becomes available and schools commit to teaching QuickStart. Orange Elementary joins Locust Grove and Unionville Elementary Schools and Prospect Heights Middle Schools in Orange County.

“We appreciate the high level of enthusiasm in Orange County,” says Harrill, who is a QCV vice president and the QuickStart Tennis Coordinator. “We know how difficult it can be to introduce a new activity into an established PE program. Sara Haney, Assistant Athletic Director at Orange High School, has been instrumental in getting QuickStart going there. She has been a real cheerleader for us.”

The equipment grant to Orange Elementary was made possible by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. Through its Jump Start QuickStart Tennis initiative, QCV trains, equips and supports schools, parks & recreation departments and other community organizations that are committed to teaching and running self-sustaining QST programs.

QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia is an all-volunteer, grassroots Community Tennis Association that promotes, develops and grows QuickStart Tennis in 21 counties and one independent city in Central Virginia for all beginners, especially underserved youth.