On June 13th, 2022, AYLUS Pearland members participated in a training session on how to assist kids with autism in playing tennis. They first listened to Lisa Pugliese-LaCroix,
a professional tennis player who founded her own successful organization, Love Serving Autism. Volunteers first watched videos of athletes learning and improving their motor coordination skills as well as their confidence through their tennis program. Lisa then went through the curriculum, explaining how to use different accommodations such as a banner for non-verbal athletes, how to assist them both physically and verbally, and going through a basic sequence of activities. After the online session, AYLUS members practiced what they learned on the actual tennis courts with the assistance of Cindy Benzon, a professional with USTA Texas. Volunteers did a mini simulation of the camp, with some acting as athletes to run through potential hardships so they could learn how to deal with some situations. They first went through stretches, warmups, and an obstacle course, then practiced ball contact and teaching volleys and groundstrokes. Even in the summer heat, volunteers did the training with great enthusiasm and now know how to assist and teach efficiently for a potential future tennis camp.
On June 20th, some of the volunteers also had a lunch meeting with Vania King, a Wimbledon and US Open titlist, who is one of the sponsors for the Tennis Camp for Individuals on Autism Spectrum. Vania shared her experience on her tennis career and her charity work.
Volunteers (6/13, 4hrs): Aila Jiang, Zide Liu, Emma Lu, Alex Sun, William Sun, Dayou Wu, Owen Xue, Erick Zhang, Abigail Zheng, Alvin Zheng, Jordan Zheng
Reported by Aila Jiang
