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Krebs wins national javelin title for GFU
Dillow finishes third for Bruins at national
championships
Maerz leads Newberg softball honorees list
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Tennis in the Newberg forefront |
Dave Brown hopes a summer program will help continue
the success of the programs at NHS |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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Dave Brown just wants a chance.
The Newberg High School boys tennis coach is hoping he can persuade
youngsters to pick up a tennis racket as part of his drive to get
more local students involved in the Newberg tennis scene.
If kids in elementary through high school want to play another
sport, Brown is all for it. If newcomers try out tennis this summer
and don’t enjoy their time on the courts, Brown said it would be a
surprise.
“We have so
many kids that want to play that we can’t get them off the courts,”
he said.
For the second year in a row, Brown guided his team to an
undefeated conference season and district dual meet championship.
This past season, the Tigers also won the district tournament a year
after tying McMinnville for the district title.
The success of the program has helped channel players into not only
the boys program, but the girls program at Newberg. This past
season, a combined 96 athletes competed in the program, making it
one of the most populous programs at the school. Getting those
athletes, along with new ones and ones from the other elementary and
middle schools around Newberg, to play summer tennis is Brown’s
primary goal for the next three months. He said he’s hoping to get
100 athletes signed up, prompting more players to play high school
tennis and make it a winning situation for both the boys and girls
programs at Newberg.
“Going into the summer, we have so many kids playing tennis,” he
said. “I’m not saying that tennis is better than another sport, but
tennis is the right sport for a lot of kids. But a lot of times,
they don’t even know about it until their freshman or sophomore year
or junior years and probably two-third of our kids have wished they
would have started playing in the fifth, sixth or seventh grade.”
Brown said he wants players in the summer program to become
involved in the United State Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments
and “taking advantage of all the opportunities there.” The USTA is
the national governing body for tennis and works to promote and
develop the sport’s growth on every level in the United States, from
local communities like Newberg to the professional game.
The involvement, though, will take some money. For the summer-long
schedule, athletes will be charged $150 and play twice per week (not
including tournaments). Brown said he’s even willing to pay the fee
for some of the athletes who have a difficult time coming up with
the fee.
“We just want to get kids out playing,” he said. “We don’t want
money to be an object and get in the way of the kids playing.”
Participants in the USTA tournaments can play in one of three
different levels: Rookies, ‘A’ level or the Champs level. Each
classification is depending on skills. Brown said the Champs level
is for upper level high school players.
For more information, call Brown at 503-888-6365. |
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From
May 30, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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