For Sports Day, the clubs join together to provide a day of athletics to local kids in the Dominica community. The kids are bused in courtesy of the clubs, and entertained to a day of sports, lunch and fun!
Cole was in charge of the day, so I got to join in and help teach tennis. It was so great to interact with kids who ages were roughly 8-12 years. This elementary school was from the village of Marigot, which is near Melville Hall Airport. So it was roughly an hour's drive to campus.
Many of them have never been to Ross, as you have to have an ID to get onto campus. So this marked a special occasion to play tennis, soccer and basketball on a nice set of courts and have interaction with the Ross Community.
A special thanks to Chelsea for letting me post her awesome pictures she captured of the day!
The day started off with the groups of kids dividing up and splitting between stations of tennis, basketball and soccer. For tennis, we started with a brief overview of the rules - the goal being to hit the ball in the green and not over the fence. I then demonstrated the forehand and backhand while they took turns practicing each shot. And then after that, it was pretty much a free for all. There's only so much you can do when a bunch of kids get their hands on tennis rackets.
Most of the kids had not played tennis before, but rather table tennis. Many of them were natural athletes and picked it up right away. Very impressive!
After the stations, we walked the group of kids over to the Subway deck for a quick lunch. To us, Subway is nothing new; it's a staple in the US. However, here in Dominica, the only Subway is on Ross's campus, so therefore, nearly all the kids had their first Subway experience on Saturday. They were all very sweet and wanted to take extra sandwiches home for their siblings or parents so they could try it, too. Very endearing. Of course, they devoured it all, along with the platters of cookies!
For the afternoon, the kids were brought back for rousing relay games, a nutrition presentation and a bit of free time.
This little doll latched on to Chelsea and followed us nearly every step we took. We certainly didn't mind. Such a charmer!
We ended the day with nothing other than a water balloon toss! Such fun. You can only imagine the chaos that ensued when we started handing out the balloons!
All in all, it was one of the best days I've had here. It was so great to give back to the community, participate in an event that these children will remember, and have fun sharing my passion for tennis as well. I was so happy to help as I think I may have had more fun than the kids....if that's even possible.
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