|
|
| Donald Van Blake Tennis & Education Foundation Posting Date: February 18 2010
Augustine Dashiell
|
 | Curtiss Young instruction youngsters at the Washington School
Saturday Tennis Program |
PLAINFIELD – On any given spring evening, if you drive up Randolph Road across from the once glorious Muhlenberg Hospital, sits the beautiful Donald Van Blake Tennis Complex. The well-lit, 16-court complex serves as home base to the Donald Van Blake Tennis and Education Foundation (DVBTEF). Curtiss Young serves as President of the all-volunteer organization, and gives a short outline of the mission of the DVBTEF.
“The idea behind us is to get kids in our community (Plainfield) involved in tennis,” Young said with a smile.
Named after Donald Van Blake, Plainfield’s “Ambassador of Tennis” who initiated the majority of organized tennis programs in tennis, the two-year-old organization offers different programs for the youth in the late 1970’s.
“I have been a member of other organizations in Plainfield that served the same function, but we branched of and named the organization after him,” Young said, speaking of his involvement. “ I’ve picked up where he left off, more or less, he used to be the leader of the functions, but it has been passed down to me more or less.”
The DVBTEF is affiliated with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), this affiliation comes with certain perks for being a member organization.
“We run some programs under their heading,” Young said. “We have Junior Team Tennis and a large variety of programs they sponsor.”
The Junior Team Tennis program runs October through March at the Inman Sports Club in Edison.
“In that program we have about 30 kids and they practice Saturday nights for about two hours and play most of their matches on Sunday with other organized teams from around the Central Jersey area,” Young said.
Another program Young takes pride in is the Washington School Saturday Tennis Program.
“We draw anywhere from 20 to 50 kids it varies from week to week,” Young said. “The Washington school program is open to kids from all over the city, we say kids from grades 2-5, but we have some kindergarten kids that participate, we can’t turn them away, and they seem to enjoy it.”
Exposing the kids to tennis at all levels is important to the DVBTEF; a prime example is the trip to Madison Square Garden to see four of the world’s top tennis players.
“What we are doing is taking the kids to Madison Square Garden to see the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) play, we were supposed to go last year but we got snowed out and had to cancel,” Young said. “This year we are trying to take 100 people, including chaperones.”
Click here for a copy of the flyer for “Tennis Night”
“We also sponsor many tournaments at the Van Blake Complex, but the complex is free to all residents to use. Non-residents pay a small fee for court use,” Young said.
For more information about the Donald Van Blake Tennis & Education Foundation, feel free to call 908-754-5835, please leave a message. |
|
| |
|
  |
| |
| |
| |
|
| September 04 2010 - QCBL Defeats Franklin in 12U Play |
| September 04 2010 - Sayreville Makes It To The Finals |
| September 03 2010 - North Edison Wins Big |
| September 03 2010 - QCBL Wins In 10U Action |
| September 03 2010 - Nutley Hands QCBL Loss |
| August 31 2010 - QCBL Labor Day Tourney |
| August 26 2010 - Tsunami At The Jr. Olympics |
| July 31 2010 - Pony League Championship Game |
| July 22 2010 - QCBL Opens Tourney With A Tie |
| July 21 2010 - QCBL Chugging Along |
| July 03 2010 - Queen City Baseball Pony League |
| June 23 2010 - Pony League Team Gets First Win |
| June 23 2010 - QCBL Minor League Championship Series |
| June 22 2010 - Pony Team Struggles In Cranford |
| June 21 2010 - QCBL Enters Cal Ripken |
| June 18 2010 - SPF 5 Plainfield 2 |
| June 06 2010 - Dunellen Dodgers Rally By QCBL Yankees |
| June 03 2010 - QCBL Battle @ The Rock 12U |
| June 03 2010 - QCBL Battle @ The Rock |
| June 03 2010 - Battle @ The Rock Finals |
| June 03 2010 - June 2 In The QCBL |
| May 29 2010 - Results From the Battle @ The Rock |
| May 27 2010 - QCBL Alters Battle @ The Rock |
| May 24 2010 - Queen City Majors Hold Off Dunellen |
| May 22 2010 - Queen City Red Sox Win On The Road |
| May 21 2010 - QCBL All-Stars |
| May 18 2010 - QCBL May 17 |
| May 17 2010 - Battle @ The Rock |
| May 17 2010 - QCBL May 15 Minor League Games |
| May 17 2010 - QCBL May 15 Major League Games |
| May 17 2010 - QCBL May 14th |
| May 15 2010 - Thursdays QCBL Action |
| May 09 2010 - QCBL - Dunellen Interleague Play |
| May 06 2010 - QCBL And Dunellen Split A Pair |
| May 06 2010 - Results From The Skills Competition |
| May 06 2010 - QCBL May 5th Games |
| May 04 2010 - QCBL Takes Two In Interleague Play |
| May 04 2010 - April 29 QCBL Action |
| April 23 2010 - April 22 QCBL Scores |
| April 23 2010 - QCBL In Interleague Play |
| April 21 2010 - Mets, Braves, Tigers and Indians |
| April 21 2010 - QCBL Opening Day Recap |
| March 27 2010 - QCBL Draft |
| March 13 2010 - Tennis At Madison Square Garden |
| February 20 2010 - Olympic Medalist Splashes In Plainfield |
|
| February 18 2010 - Flyer For MSG Trip |
| November 01 2009 - Full Speed Ahead |
| October 10 2009 - QCBL Fall Ball |
| October 01 2009 - Plainfield Tsunami Track Club Registration |
| September 29 2009 - Plainfield Division of Parks and Recreation Forms Baseball League |
| September 20 2009 - Plainfield Soccer Club |
Youth Leagues
