Euro School of Tennis is back in full swing this summer with camps in Fremont, Castro Valley, Menlo Park and Hayward for kids ranging in ages 6 to 14.

The camp, and coaches such as Jose Lorente, hope to inspire young athletes to play tennis.

“We hope they go try out for their high school team and if they are younger, that they get involved with the USTA,” Lorente explained.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) puts on youth tournaments and leagues all over Northern California.

The camp runs Monday through Friday until the end of August and hosts public as well as private camps for its campers throughout the summer months.

According to camp coach Alin Cimpoaie, camps such as these are important to young children interested in the sport because over the years tennis has become one of the most popular sports in America.

According to Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, participation in tennis has grown 43 percent from 2000-2008.

“But to ensure its further growth we must get the youth involved,” Cimpoaie explained.

The camp emphasizes that tennis is a lifetime game and you can play at almost any age, as it helps with hand-eye coordination as well as agility, a vital aspect of being successful in tennis, let alone in any sport.

“At best we’re just trying to get these kids active being outside for a few hours playing,” Cimpoaie said. “Building a mindset that physical activity is an important part of life.”

Among working on the fundamentals of the sport, such as forehands and backhands, they want to promote quality characteristics such as respect and honesty.

“Showing respect at all times in the game is very important, as well as being honest,” Program Director Kal Stoyanov explained.

Euro School of Tennis also wants to assure as much personal attention as possible as they do not have a large student to instructor ratio.

“You will not see in our camps one instructor working with 20 kids, instead we have no more than six campers per instructor,” Stoyanov stated. “This really allows us to give each child as much individual attention as possible.”

The campers also participate in other sports that are not tennis related so they do not get tired of the sport quickly.

“We do not want the kids to get burnt out on the game, so we play several other games as well like dodge ball, frisbee, and soccer,” she said.

The kids were treated to a pizza party at the end of the week where they also give each child an award for completing the program.

“Kids are like sponges willing to learn, and they just have a pure joy for learning new things. We all hope it is a game they will take on for life,” Stoyanov said.