Tennis ideas a net gain

A Tom Price teacher has returned from an exclusive grand slam tennis teachers’ event eager to pass on her new sports knowledge to students.

Tom Price Primary School physical education teacher Sara Mohamed was one of two selected in WA and 18 nation-wide to attend the Australian Open Grand Slam Teachers’ Conference in Melbourne two weeks ago.

The annual event is open to Australian generalist and PE teachers committed to promoting exercise and tennis in their communities.

Ms Mohamed, who has been teaching at Tom Price Primary for three years, said she had never heard of the conference until last year.

She said tennis was a long-term passion of hers.

“I have a long history with tennis. I did it growing up and I really loved it,” she said.

“I still play. I just see it as a sport that’s really a lifetime sport.”

The conference aimed to give teachers the latest information on how to encourage Australian children to be active and motivated and ran them through on-court tennis sessions to hone their coaching skills.

It also included a night watching grand slam tennis by stars such as Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, and meeting top Australian tennis player Alicia Molik.

“They’ve put together a tennis primary school resource, which has so much information, so much content in it, which is linked to the Australian curriculum,” Ms Mohamed said of the conference.

“Through the general work we did with them and especially the on-court practice sessions, it showed us not only what to teach but how to teach it and how to get the most out of your students, so that they’re having fun as well.”

Tom Price Primary has been running the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots children’s tennis program for several years and Tennis Australia previously visited to train teachers to coach.

Ms Mohamed said people interested in being part of the Hot Shots program or social tennis should contact the Tom Price Tennis Club at tom price.tennisclub@gmail.com.