After LA: Curtis Hollinger
Spreading love for tennis
Former Cajun star player Curtis Hollinger starting tennis program for youth.
The game of tennis opened doors for Curtis Hollinger, and he wants to give back to the sport.
Hollinger, a former All-American player for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns and a Lafayette attorney, is planning a grass-roots effort to teach the game to young people on the north side of Lafayette Parish.
He's starting small, stressing individual attention for students, and plans to enlist the aid of other local African-American players as instructors when the program begins in March.
"I have a completely different philosophy," Hollinger said. "We're starting with 20-30 students. That's where I differ with the U.S. Tennis Association, which likes to see big numbers for its clinics.
"It's a skill to teach something you know. Some kids never have exposure to high-level tennis. Many don't have access to players from high-level college programs. If you haven't been there, you can't talk about it."
Hollinger was proficient in a number of sports growing up in Alabama, but his ability in tennis prompted two years of focused instruction at the Nick Bolleteri School in Florida that helped lead to a scholarship at UL.
"My father used to say that if you can't communicate what you know, it's worthless," Hollinger said. "He said there are no good teachers, just good students and that ultimately the student has to go out and discover the truth."
Hollinger's S.A.O. "Steps Are Ordered" program, which has its roots in the Bible, will attempt to encourage that discovery.
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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