Mentoring
The most unique and important part of our program is our mentoring. Each player in the program has a coach-mentor, who oversees his or her players’ training, academics, tournament schedule and general character development. Coaches tackle issues related to: competing with integrity, self-esteem, diet, parental involvement and time-management. We believe that our mentoring relationships help to create a community of values, and we encourage players to become mentors in their own communities.
Academic Performance
The Champions Center values academic performance and makes participation in the tennis program contingent on good academic standing. The Champions Center houses a small in-house school for students who are ready to commit to a more rigorous training schedule; however academics comes first. Two highly qualified teachers administer a challenging curriculum offered by Laurel Springs, a fully accredited online school. This combination of real-life teaching and 21 st century technology provides our students with the discipline and flexibility they need to excel academically and athletically.
Character Building
Tennis can be a vehicle for greatness. Our philosophy and program seeks to help our young players become “Champions for Life”. Through Tennis, our juniors learn self-discipline, integrity and problem-solving skills that enable them to succeed in whatever career endeavors they choose.
Community Service
We are committed to involving our players in community service and volunteerism. Our community service often takes the form of student to student coaching and peer mentoring. Studies have shown that peer mentoring is one of the most effective ways to reinforcing positive behavior. Students also give back to the program in other ways including administration, letter writing, maintenance and fundraising. Community service is not an option, it’s an obligation for all students.
Community Impact
Twenty percent of our players come from low-income families. This year we offer more than $240,000 in financial aid to these students. In addition, our prices are subsidized to make our program affordable to middle class families. Most of our students could not afford our program without subsidized pricing or financial aid.
World class Tennis Training
The Champions Center has a highly qualified and experienced international coaching staff consisting of former professional, Davis Cup and top college players. All of our senior coaches have a High Performance coaching certification (the highest level of certification offered by the United States Tennis Association) and are students of the game.
