HOW TO BECOME A TENNIS GRAND SLAM PARENT

Do you want to score box seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium?  Have you ever wondered how those people who look just like everybody else scored those tickets?  Well, you too can be the parent of a professional tennis player and secure those seats with the complimentary bags of chips and all-you-can-drink beverages.   Understand though, it will cost more than 4 years of out-of-state tuition.  But those seats are priceless. 

One way to the player’s box is to offer your child an uber-fun, skills driven program during the earliest years of his life.  When it came to my own kids, I didn’t get them into the game soon enough.   Whereas I preferred the junior academy that emphasized drills and competition, my kids liked the free pizza and soda on the clay courts of the country club.   So yeah, I never realized the seats.

If you are a tennis zealot anxious for your child to experience the thrill of a concrete forehand return winner or perhaps the execution of a slo-mo drop-shot, then you should develop that addiction in your pint-size as soon as your child exhibits an attention span.  If my kids had initially been exposed to a playtime atmosphere perhaps things might have been different.

Enter Teddy Tennis, tailored to the fun times of any 3, 4 or 5 year old with a spirit for play and the desire to learn.  Classes are held to 50 minutes of music, games and activities that stimulate both auditory and visual senses.   The music teaches rhythm and the lyrics tell the children what to do.  The instructor, aka Head Ted uses pictures to involve Cub Cadets in the lesson by asking questions about what‘s going on in the picture. 

Students are given a 16” or 19” racquet with paw-painted strings and fed low-compression red and yellow balls; that’s right, the ones that are impossible to over hit.  Exercises focus on eye-hand coordination, typical tennis footwork (think hop-split-hop) and because the emphasis is on fun, kids are blind to the efforts involved in their skill development.  Throw in stickers and balloons and every kid is happy and every class is a party.

Lessons don’t have to stop on the court, though.  Mom can take home DVD’s, coloring books and CD’s so the kids won’t watch re-runs of Family Guy while she’s making dinner.  And to incorporate Mom and Dad into the experience, the Parent’s Guide offers a wide overview of the program.  Need a unique birthday party idea that appeals to both boys and girls?  It’s all here.

Hard to believe the inception for Teddy Tennis came from a struggling British rocker.  In 1998, after abandoning dreams of stardom, Richard Bean turned to his second love, tennis.  Recognizing a real need for a program tailored to the very young, Richard made the stretch and wrote, sang and produced music aimed at toddler appeal while his brother Stephen pulled the marketing ranks.  The culmination of their efforts is a franchise program that is sold worldwide from the US and England to Slovenia and Saudi Arabia.

A few years ago, the two Mr. Bean’s joined forces with Patricia Jensen, notable tennis marketer and the matriarch of tennis royalty, to represent the good works of Teddy Tennis in the US.  Linking her innate love of the sport with all things “kid,” Patricia has become the emissary of the program on US shores today.  With ten franchises throughout the country, there are only 3 opportunities still available in the greater Atlanta area.   

To find a class in your area that panders to your child’s ability and enthusiasm or if you would like to explore business opportunities, call Patricia Jensen’s New York office at (917) 468-5777 or email SegalJensen@aol.com.    She’ll call you back and you’ll be that much closer to those box seats.  And it will be so much fun.