Love God. Make Friends. Play Tennis!
Sunday afternoon eight members of the BCCTA Cheetahs took to the courts at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center at Will Rogers Park needing 20 standings points in their final dual of the season to clinch the 2019 Spring 10-and-Under Junior Team Tennis championship.
At the BCC Tennis Academy we love to play tennis. We love to teach kids, who might never get an opportunity, to play tennis. Even more importantly, we love to use tennis as a tool to teach kids about the big lessons of life. That’s why our motto is, “Love God. Make Friends. Play Tennis!”
Yesterday, while our coaches were handing out “Gold Balls” to the player on each court who showed great heart, hustle, and humility, one player, who had never played tennis with us before, stood out. His coach said, “He kept his eyes on me and did everything I told him to do.” What a great set-up for a major “life lesson.” The Bible tells us,
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3 NIVO)
Life can be hard, so hard. There are challenges far more challenging than learning a forehand or backhand that some of our kids are facing and that all will face in the future. We want them to learn that just like they benefit from listening to and following their coach on the court, they will greatly benefit from learning and listening to what God has to say about life…all of life.
At the end of every practice we huddle up with the kids and give thanks. We want our kids to never forget the many, many blessings that God has showered upon them. Folks pay big bucks to learn to improve their game, but far more important than a winning game on the court is a grateful heart overflowing with thanks. Love God. Make Friends. Play Tennis!
Every Tuesday afternoon our courts are full of kids who are working hard and having tons of fun! Last week a friend came out to shoot to some footage of a typical Tuesday at the BCC Tennis Academy. We hope you will enjoy getting a “birds eye” view of what’s happening at the BCC Tennis Academy. If you would like more information about our tennis academy then stop by some Tuesday at 4:30 pm. We’d love to meet you, give you a tour, and introduce you to our kids and coaches.
LITTLE MO TOURNAMENT
What a great experience for the seven BCC Tennis Academy players who played in the Little Mo Tournament last weekend at The Green’s Country Club in Oklahoma City. Gray Dillon captured the Championship in the Boys 9 yr. old Green Ball division. Taytum Jones was Runner-Up in the Boys 11 yr. old Green Ball division. Tokara Henderson took home the Runner-Up trophy in the Girls 12 yr old division. Javier Vasquez, Kellen and Macy Hays, and John Paul Dillon also competed and had a great experience in their first Little Mo. All of the coaches and kids of the BCC Tennis Academy are so proud of all of you! Keep working!
On Sunday, December 16, the BCCTA family got together to celebrate all of the wonderful blessings God has lavished upon us during the past year. We’ve seen more and more kids join our Academy. We’ve seen more and more kids begin to climb the ladder and move from our Sunday “Fun Bunch” into our tournament training program. We’ve broken ground and are now ready to finish our new outdoor training facility. Things are looking for up for the kids and coaches of the BCC Tennis Academy!
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Congratulations to Tokara Henderson on winning her third straight USTA Missouri Valley Champs Circuit Girl’s Singles title today in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Tokara has won 7 matches in a row and 13 out of the last 14 matches.
Tokara has been playing tennis with the BCC Tennis Academy since she was 4 years old. Now, still only in the 5th grade, Tokara is a leader for our younger kids who are working hard on the court and off to live out the motto of the BCCTA: Love God. Make Friends. Play Tennis! Congratulations Tokara. The kids and coaches of the BCCTA are so proud of you!
This was a big, BIG week for the kids and coaches of the BCC Tennis Academy. The bulldozers came in and the work on the BCC Tennis Center began! For the past several years we’ve been traveling to the OKC Tennis Center and The Kickingbird Tennis Center on Sundays for our Sunday “Fun Day” tennis. We are so grateful for our friends, Steve Henry and David Minihan, for all of their help in providing us a place to play tennis on Sundays.
For the past year our leaders have been asking if it was possible to have our own tennis center, our own training facility for the kids of the BCCTA. Our leaders made the commitment to try and make it happen and our supporters responded with such amazing generosity! Once the BCCTA Tennis Center is completed it will be paid for in full. Praise God!
Not only will we no longer have to travel to play on Sundays, but our older kids will be able to train throughout the week at our own training facility. In addition to these wonderful blessings we plan on creating new opportunities for those in our community to learn to play the wonderful game of tennis.
Once the courts are completed you will all be invited to the dedication of our new training facility. It will be an afternoon of great celebration and humble gratitude for the grace of our God and the generosity of His people. Love God. Make Friends. Play Tennis!
It was a historic day for the BCC Tennis Academy. On Sunday afternoon the newest addition to the BCC Tennis Academy, the 12U JTT Barracudas took the court for the very first time at Oak Tree Country Club. The kids have been putting in the work over the past several weeks, with their coaches, in preparing for this new challenge in JTT.
All of the players on the Barracudas, Kadence Williams, Javier Vazquez, John Paul Dillon, Taytum Jones, and Macy and Kellen Hays, began playing JTT with our 10U Cheetahs team. It’s a big step to move up to a full court and playing against older kids (three of our players are 9 years old,) but these kids know how to work hard and their hard work paid off on Sunday. The Barracudas ended the day with a 32-14 win over Oak Tree. I hope you will come out and watch the Barracudas compete this Fall as they compete against over 12U squads from across Oklahoma City.