365 PROJECT: World Class Runner Gets Kids On Track With Tennis
Originally Published: February 15, 2008
NICKI MAYO, WJHL-TV/Tricities.com
The former Olympic contender is getting inner city on track using the game of tennis.
“My ideal job would be working with at-risk children and exposing them to the art and love of tennis,” says Anthony Jones.
The former Olympic contender is getting inner city on track using the game of tennis.
“It’s just like fun and I like the competition and I just like to play sports,” says 12-year-old Tre Webster. He’s one of 30 youngsters who picked up a racket for the first time last year at a tennis clinic at the Liberty Bell Courts.
“My focus is being able to get some of the minorities; those kids who never experienced holding a tennis racket really involved. And that’s going to be my dedication to the sport, “says Jones.
This spring Jones is bringing tennis back to the courts with the “Rising Tennis Stars” program. The initiative is geared at getting minority inner-city youths playing tennis.
“Of course I don’t have the accolades of Arthur Ashe and Venus Williams. But I think just getting a chance to talk to kids about what it was like to be a world class athlete for seven years.”
But Jones says running track was his first love, set, match.
“My fastest time was 10:10 which was at the Big Ten Championships, which was a Big Ten record. And My fastest time overall was 9:95 which I ran in Knoxville Tennessee,” says Jones
Track paved the way for him to attend the University of Illinois Champaign on an athletic scholarship from 1991 to 94. Jones moved to the Tri-Cities back in the early 90’s to train for the 1996 Olympic trials. He placed 14th in the ’96 Olympic trials. Jones tore his left quad in the 2000 USA indoor international championship in Atlanta, Georgia. The injure slowed him down on the track, but it accelerated his desire to mentor and coach. Since then he’s dedicated his life to helping children chase their dreams.
“Allowing those kids to see a face like mine will give then an opportunity to hopefully give them an opportunity to say ‘ok I want to go out and play and learn from that guy,” says Jones.
