Baylor to Host Nationally Recognized Tennis Camps

WACO, Texas - Baylor University will host two Nike Tennis Camps from June 9-13 and June 16-20 at the Streich Tennis Center. Streich serves as Baylor's varsity tennis facility and consists of eight championship courts.
The Nike Tennis Camps are owned and operated by U.S. Sports Development and offer the highest quality camps in America with more than 50,000 graduates since 1975.
This year's theme will be "improvement and fun." The camps welcome male and female tennis players of all levels of experience. The director will evaluate campers and will group them with other players of similar age and ability level. The camp will provide participants with new skills training and inspiration by tennis professionals.
"We encourage and teach our campers to understand stroke fundamentals and basic match play strategies," said Matt Knoll, head coach of the Baylor men's tennis team and camp director.
Camp activities include stroke fundamentals, proper grips, footwork, movement and balance instruction for beginners. For intermediate players, instruction will include stroke strengthening, power and control development and match play strategies. High school and tournament level players will work on refining stroke production, increasing power, improving match playing skills, physical training and will participate in match competition. Campers will also have access to two health and fitness rooms with two new training facilities. After lunch, the outdoor swimming pool will be provided for recreation. Basketball and indoor volleyball will be offered in an air-conditioned sports facility.
Knoll has extensive experience in youth and adult tennis coaching. As a player, he competed at Kansas State University and Washburn University where he received Academic All-American honors and was voted the Most Valuable Player. Afterward, Knoll traveled with the Satellite Professional Tour for a year. He returned to coach at the University of Kansas for two years.
While he was there, Kansas won two Big Eight Conference titles, two Region V Championships and made two NCAA tournament appearances. With Knoll as the assistant coach, Kansas went from a national ranking of 32 to a national ranking of 11.
At the Nike Tennis Camp, Knoll and his staff will work with students on a 6 to 1 camper to instructor ratio. Campers will have a personal skills evaluation and videotaping and will receive a Nike Tennis Camp T-shirt, prizes and a yearbook. Special topics that will be addressed include tennis etiquette, strategy, sportsmanship and nutrition. On Friday, June 13, and Friday, June 20, campers will be treated to a Special Pizza Party.
Each session welcomes both full day and half day campers. Full day campers will arrive at 8:30 a.m. and stay until 4:15 p.m. They must provide their own lunch daily, except for Friday. Half day campers will arrive at 8:30 a.m. and will leave before noon. Applications will be accepted at any time, up until the start of camp, but space is limited and reservations are on a first-come first-served basis. The full day fee is $255 per week and the half day fee is $155 per week.
For an application or more information about the Baylor Nike Tennis Camp, call Knoll at 755-3484.