TREASURE VALLEY JUNIOR HOSTS CHARITY CLINICS TO BENEFIT TiE PROGRAM

Thirteen-year-old Boise junior player Parth Raina got the tennis bug when he started hitting balls with his father at age six. Now he’s organizing his own charity tennis clinics to “give back to the tennis community that has given so much.”

 

  On Sunday, Aug. 22, Parth donated a portion of the proceeds he earned this summer while instructing 10 kids to Idaho Tennis Foundation. The $350 contribution will be used by the foundation to promote the “Tennis is Elementary” afterschool program.

 

Tennis is Elementary is an entry-level program developed by Idaho Tennis Association which brings tennis to kids on their scale. With smaller courts and racquets, low-compression balls, and a scoring system and net height that are just their size, participants play in school gymnasiums while learning skills that can transition into lifetime play. Idaho Tennis Foundation supplies scholarships to students and equipment to schools in need throughout the state.

 

“I want to see a small idea become a great idea,” Parth told Idaho Tennis Foundation Executive Director Matthew Warren. “I want to see every kid have the opportunities that I have had to play tennis.”

 

“It says a lot about Parth’s character that he would donate the proceeds from his tennis lessons to the Foundation,” Warren said. “I am sure that his parents are proud and pleased to know that he has made a difference in the tennis community.”

 

Parth says he realized that tennis was the sport for him when he started entering (and winning) tournaments at age 7.

 

“I found out I have a talent in tennis. I want to pursue it in school and as a career,” he said. “I like it because it is a good sport. It’s more entertaining than video games. It keeps me fit. It’s good exercise and good for other kids, too.”

 

“My husband, Kanwal, and I realized Parth had natural ability at a very young age,” said Parth’s mother, Sunita Raina. “That’s when Kanwal started working really hard with him. Sun, rain, cold. It didn’t matter. He would go out and hit with him and encourage him to succeed.”

 

“My dad has always been my primary coach,” Parth said. “When no one wanted to play with me because I wasn’t very good, he always did.” Since those days, Parth has gone on to take lessons from Duane Stotland, Morgan Shepherd and Stephen Dial.

 

2010 is the first year Parth has offered his charity tennis camp, but he says he plans on doing it every summer from here on out.

 

“I plan to raise more and more money to give more and more people the opportunity to play,” he said. “That is how much I really love tennis!”