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On Saturday, McCluskey Tennis Center was treated to a symphony. Through a partnership between the local chapter of Chattahoochee Area Tennis Association (CHATA) and the Troup County School System orchestra, a new project, “Symphony of Raquets: Serve and Volley for the Community,” was born to introduce some younger students to the game of tennis.

“Tennis is having a bit of a moment here in Troup County with LaGrange and LaGrange Academy boys winning state championships and the girls making deep runs,” said Robin Roberts, TCSS orchestra conductor and event coordinator.

This is a new concept and program for the McCluskey Tennis Complex, CHATA and the Troup County School System. This will be an outreach program for orchestra students in Troup County, incorporating community service with tennis instruction. The “Serve” is for serving the community, and the “Volley” is for advocating for youth tennis programs. 

“The world of tennis is similar to that of the orchestra – it requires special equipment and a learned skill. We hope to close the gap in a way that provides access to students who otherwise might not find a racquet in their hands,” Roberts said. “The students that we will reach out to have proven to be willing to try new things. They have previously taken full advantage of the ‘Strings Attached’ program in our school system. We feel that trying a new sport with their peers will promote retention.. Retention that leads to lessons, clinics, and ultimately Junior Team Tennis. Our job is to make tennis fun and appealing for the students and to make them eager to learn more.”

Roberts is an adept tennis player herself and has two daughters who play for the LaGrange High tennis team.

The tennis instructors at McCluskey introduced the musicians to tennis, and some even joined in during the music portion.

The hope is to retain some of these individuals in the summer tennis programs. 

“Our hope is that we can turn a handful of them into tennis players,” CHATA president Jann Ward said. “We had 19 sign up that had never even held a racquet before.”

“We are hoping to light a fire in them with tennis like they did when they picked up an instrument for the first time and started playing music,” Robins added