- April 29, 2024
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Kathryn Acierno has spent many afternoons on the tennis courts.
Her son, Frank, now 24, was a previous No. 1 player at Flagler Palm Coast High School and a doubles state champion. Her daughter, Emily, now 18, was also a No. 1 on FPC’s girls team and now plays for the State College of Florida in Bradenton. Acierno’s other daughter, Klara, 10, is an up-and-coming tennis player.
Aside from supporting her children, Acierno has taught art at Old Kings Elementary School for the past eight years — until recently, when she decided she wanted to leave her job as art teacher and pursue her dream of sharing her passion for tennis with Flagler County’s youth.
That’s when it all began.
Last year, she taught tennis through Flagler County Adult and Community Education at the A1A Center, in The Hammock. That’s when Acierno met with Molly Zimmer, of the USTA, and the two discussed how they could apply for a Kids Club Grant for the A1A Center.
“She saw potential for building a program at Old Kings Elementary School and told me how to go about applying for a USTA facilities grant to get lines painted on the playground and to get supplies through (other grants),” Acierno said.
Two other teachers at Old Kings were already running after-school sports programs (dance, wrestling and track), Acierno said, adding: “There is such a need for convenient, fun and affordable on-campus, after-school programs, and I knew that tennis would be a big hit.”
And thanks to the support from Old Kings administration, the Palm Coast Friends of Tennis, and other partners, the program began earlier this month.
Currently, the after-school tennis program is offered three days a week. Each day, two paid instructors and one volunteer from Friends of Tennis teach 16 kids to play the game.
“We started with two days, but there was such a long waiting list, we decided to add another day,” Acierno said.
The program uses USTA’s 10-and-under format: shorter courts, smaller rackets, lower-compression balls. These things make the game quicker to learn and safer for the kids, Acierno said.
“I always thought it would be wonderful if tennis were as popular as soccer is here in Flagler County,” she said. “(Tennis is a sport) that anyone and everyone can enjoy without having to travel too far, pay too much, or wait too long to get good enough to enjoy it.”
