When Jamiyla found Try Tennis on the Raleigh Tennis Association website, she was excited to signup to learn a sport she had no prior experience playing. According to Jamiyla, not only had she never played tennis, she had ‘no hand-eye coordination.” The Try Tennis curriculum helped
Jamiyla improve her hand-eye coordination which led to her learning how to hit the ball and not miss (her favorite part of the program!).
After completing Try Tennis, Jamiyla participated in Try Play and Try League. “Try Play was a great chance to learn to play in a game scenario with a coach watching and Try League prepared me for the USTA Leagues I participate in now.”
Jamiyla is now an active USTA League player. She plays on a 2.5 women’s team and a 5.5 doubles league. Although, Jamiyla admits that she isn’t done learning. She’s interested in continuing to improve her game.
Jamiyla recommends that others check out Try Tennis if they’re new to the sport or getting back into it. For her, it’s become a family affair — both Jamiyla’s husband and daughter have been through the program. She tells everyone that “it’s a great way to give tennis a try.”
And for new participants in Try Play, Jamiyla’s advice is “Keep going! Tennis is hard, especially for those of us that didn't play 'ball' related sports growing up. You have to give yourself time to develop hand-eye coordination and also learn how to place the ball. But, if you keep playing, it all comes eventually.”
She loves tennis as it is the most “fun exercise” she’s ever done. And, as we all know, it’s safe to play during COVID, giving you the opportunity to keep being social and “meet some really great people.”
So now that Jamiyla is an active tennis player, we asked her what her favorite shot is: “the forehand return on the deuce side.” That’s pretty specific, Jamiyla! We’d like to see you hit that one day.
And her favorite professional tennis player? “Serena of course! And Diego Schwartzman on the men's side.”
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