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High School Clinic Hosted By MAPTA Gives New Wings to Old Courts
Chris Donoho
March 8, 2012
Middletown, Delaware
On Saturday, February 25, 2012, as part of its goal to expand the game to high school students, MAPTA hosted a platform tennis clinic, led by Jeff Lyon, with assistance from David Hissey, Dave Taylor, and Chris Donoho, at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware. For those that don’t know the school, St. Andrews is a boarding school located in the heart of Delaware. It draws students and faculty from across the country and the globe. It is most famously the school where the movie “Dead Poets Society” starring Robin Williams was filmed. It also is the owner of two little-known and little-used, but well-lit, platform tennis courts, hidden away in a grove of trees as you pass the main gate and head towards Founders Hall. After a mid-week announcement from Susannah Donoho, Chris’s 11th grade daughter, about the upcoming program, word started to spread, and students who were interested in attending signed up.
Once a fair amount of debris was removed from the long-neglected courts, the program got off to a flying start—the 50 mph winds probably contributed to that. Around 20 students and faculty attended, including a number of squash and tennis players, some of the school’s faculty and coaches (including Cal Hurtt, Lindsay Wright and Christopher Childers), and other students who either had some experience playing or an interest in learning. By all accounts, the program was a real success. Proof of this was seen hours later, when several students were spotted under the lights playing in the late hours of the evening.
Rob Coster, President of Region II, rounded up some used paddles and new balls to donate to the school, post-clinic, for students who have become interested in the sport.
