Registration For Kay McDaniel’s Summer Tennis Clinic Begins April 1

This summer Lee will host its 24th annual Kay McDaniel Summer Tennis Clinic, held June 1-5 at Lee’s tennis courts. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from former world-ranked professional tennis player, Ms. McDaniel, the director, and her staff of instructors.  

Beginning April 1, parents can register their children for the Kay McDaniel Tennis Clinics. About 350 kids have already registered for this year’s clinics, and the 50 remaining spots will fill quickly, according to Ms. McDaniel. 

"I have over 40 instructors already committed to this year’s clinics," said Ms. McDaniel.  "Our main goal is to serve not only tennis but the love of God to every participant in these clinics.  “Not only do these kids learn to play a sport that can last a lifetime but they learn that God’s love lasts even longer than a lifetime. The kids have so much fun that they never want the clinics to end.” 

Because of such positive feedback, Ms. McDaniel says she has extended the clinic times this year by 30 minutes. The girl’s session is from 8-10 a.m. and the boy’s session is from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The clinics are free. The ages for participants are 6-13 and all skill levels are accepted, especially beginners. 

Once children who have participated in the clinics reach age 14, they can still be involved as a “junior instructor.” This year, over 50 juniors are vying for 30 junior instructor spots. 

“It delights me to see that so many kids want to give back to the game by giving their time and talents to younger kids, and they do a phenomenal job,” said Ms. McDaniel. 

Ms. McDaniel shares stories of how she overcame difficult obstacles in sports and in life. From age 11 she dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player. Her first tennis racket was a Green Stamp racket which Ms. McDaniel collected over 10,000 stamps to obtain. 

Her mother sewed all her tennis clothes until age 15 when top sponsors, such as Fila, Adidas, Tail, and Nike sponsored her tennis career. She went on to realize her dream by competing at tennis’ Grand Slams for six years against legendary players such as Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Steffi Graf. She rose to the top 35 in the world in singles and held a #20 world ranking in doubles. 

Ms. McDaniel, an assistant professor at Lee in the health and exercise science and secondary education department, hopes to inspire greatness in all her participants. Her tennis clinic receives rave reviews from parents and kids alike. Last year over 25 cities were represented among participants. 

“We’ve never experienced such a unique sports camp before, and we’ve participated in many of them,” said one participant’s parent. “We moved here from Nashville and heard that we must get our child into Kay’s clinics. They learned so much about God and tennis. Not only my children but our entire family was powerfully impacted. We will be back every year.” 

Prizes such as tennis grips, sweatbands, tennis visors, water bottles, T-shirts and other items are given during the week. On the last day, an awards event will take place. 

For more information or to register, visit www.kaymcdanieltennisclinics.com.