(Above) Students, faculty and athletes gather for a photo after an afternoon of tennis fun on the Collin College courts. Photo by Collin College Lions Club Vice President Muneeba Ali.
Tennis should be available to anyone who wants to play it. An annual Special Olympics series put on by Collin College student and faculty volunteers helps to make that possible.
The college’s varsity tennis teams joined with the Collin Lions Club, John Paul II High School and students from Coach Marty Berryman’s physical education classes for an eight-week series of Special Olympic tennis nights on Tuesdays in September and October. The tennis nights host about 30 players, aged 18-40, for fun evenings on the Collin courts.
Coach Berryman started the program about 14 years ago.
“We are just there to make it fun,” Steve Sikes, the Collin Lions Club advisor, said. “(The athletes) like to have things one-on-one, so every special needs player has somebody there who can help them hit the ball and have kind of a one-on-one session.”