The recently loosened restrictions on sports have been welcomed by the local tennis community with open arms.
Now that indoor facilities are allowed to operate at 25% and the requirement for one-on-one instruction has been removed, there are more options for players to hit the courts.
14-year-old Mitch Pollack wasted no time returning to action. He’s been playing three to four times a week at Taylor Tennis Club where he’s been training with provincial team coach Jared Connell and has been playing one-on-one with his dad at Tennis U in Steinbach.
And now with the snow melting, Pollack plans on taking advantage of the outdoor courts opening up.
“I’ve been doing a lot of Zoom meetings and working out in my basement so it’s good to finally get out there and play tennis,” said Pollack.
Aurora Ling, 13, would love to be out there playing as well, but an ankle injury has kept her on the sidelines. Once fully recovered, hopefully by this weekend, Ling plans to have a weekly private lesson with Connell and spend a couple of hours on the weekends playing matches.
She’s been working on her craft at home, but nothing can replicate being on the court playing.
“It started getting really boring because I was doing the same thing every day and I wasn’t getting to see any of the people that I usually see with tennis,” Ling said.
Ling is crossing her fingers that this summer will have some tournaments on the calendar. The last time she played in a tournament was an indoor event early last year in Regina.
“It definitely motivates me more because I know some of the other provinces they most likely would’ve been training while we were in lockdown,” she said.
“It motivates me to practice harder.”
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