Players from the University of Tennessee Southern (UTS) joined the Nashville Catholic Tennis (NCT) Program, on Saturday, November 6th, on the home courts of St. Cecilia Academy and under the direction of Coach Danny Castro (NCT and Pope John Paull II Head Tennis Coach) The 75 Kindergarten through 8th grade, parochial school players, enjoyed learning tennis skills from 10 UTS players, alongside 3 St. Cecilia Academy Varsity Team players.
UTS Head Coach, Bill Riddle says, “The volunteer experience allows players from UT Southern to hone their tennis teaching skills in their second language of English.”
We are grateful to the following UT Southern tennis team volunteers, for sharing their love of the game with our young players. Thank you, Emely Castro (United Kingdom), Abbey Rumble (Australia), Valeria Labrador (Colombia), Leovanna Viamonte (Ecuador), Sara Teorod de Morais (Brazil), Otone Odijima (Japan) , Felipe Dias (Brazil), Alex Pastrana (Mexico), Rage Matcuk (Brazil), Eduardo Costa, Assistant Coach (Portugal),and Head Coach, Bill Riddle.
"Education shouldn't be confined to the classroom. We encourage and work with our tennis players, to find ways to learn real life skills while helping to make, not only our community, but everywhere we go, a little bit better" - Bill Riddle (Head Tennis Coach)
UT Southern “Firehawks” are the newest member to the University of Tennessee system and compete within the NAIA Mid-South Conference. The team learns from Coach Riddle about the importance of giving back to the community and increasing awareness of tennis in higher education.
You can follow the Firehawks tennis team on Instagram @utstennis
~ Submitted by Coach Bill Riddle
