Tennis player sparks in­terest in Red Bank middle schoolers

BY SANDI CARPELLO
Staff Writer

SANDI CARPELLO staff Ashley Furman (l-r) and Alyson Morris, both 16, and Kim Gittleson, 17, of Rumson are teaching Red Bank youth the game of tennis.

RUMSON — When Kim Gittleson heard that many Red Bank children had never even picked up a tennis racket, she decided to make some phone calls.

Within days, the Red Bank mini-tennis camp was formed.

The 17-year-old varsity tennis player at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School had rounded up students at Red Bank Middle School, got the Little Silver Tennis Club to donate some rackets, and ordered 12 T-Shirts from the U.S. Tennis Association emblazoned with the logo "USA Team Tennis for Kim’s Program."

"It was so easy. After I told people that I wanted to do this, ev­eryone was willing to donate and participate," Gittleson said.

The free tennis camp, geared specifically toward lower-income children in the fourth through eighth grades, was launched last Saturday morning at the Eastside Park tennis courts in the borough.

On the sun-baked courts, Gittleson, along with her fellow high school teammates, Alyson Morris and Ashley Furman, both 16, taught the roughly six partici­pants, forehand, backhand and serving techniques.

"They were so adorable," said Gittleson. "They were really nice and really enthusiastic."

According to Parks and Recreation Director Linda Sharkey, school officials from the Red Bank Middle School chose 12 kids to participate in the camp — six boys and six girls.

The camp will run until November and resume in the spring.

Along with lagging participa­tion in Red Bank’s athletic and recreation programs, the level of athletic participation by Red Bank students at the regional high school is nowhere near the level of the student population, officials said.

The high school draws roughly 30 percent of its students from Red Bank. However, there are no Red Bank students on the tennis team, golf team, fall cheerleading squad or boys’ cross country team.

Gittleson, who began playing tennis when she was 12, said she wanted to give middle school stu­dents a head start in her favorite sport.

"I love tennis so much and I realize how special tennis has been for me, physically and emotion­ally," she said. "I’m grateful for the opportunity to play and I wanted to give something back to the community. Hopefully, in three years they’ll be able to try out for their high school tennis team."