Young players hit the court during Mohawk tennis clinic

A total of ten kids took part in the Mohawk PeeWee tennis clinic June 8-12 under the direction of PHS tennis coach Paul Seegraves (back). The young athletes were, from left--Pearson Hearn, Rebekah Potts, Kirsten Smith, Brooke Roberts, Jordan Tate, Shawn-Hudson Seegraves, Molly Williams, Maggie Williams, Bethany Raspberry and Kyson Brannon. (photo provided) [Click to enlarge]

One way for a high school coach to insure a steady stream of athletes for their program is to cultivate the young talent in their district. So far this year there have been volleyball and basketball camps at PHS, and earlier this month longtime Mohawk tennis coach Paul Seegraves conducted a PeeWee tennis clinic.

The clinic, which was held at the Piggott tennis courts June 8-12, featured a Quickstart format for the youngsters with smaller court dimensions, a shorter net and a low-compression/high bounce tennis ball.

Seegraves, who has groomed the Mohawk tennis program into one of the top 3-A programs in the state, had a good turnout for the clinic with a total of 10 kids. The young netters learned about the game, took part in various skill competitions and held a tournament at the conclusion of the clinic.

Contest winners for the week included--Kirsten Smith was forehand champion, Shawn-Hudson Seegraves was backhand champion, while the volley champs with perfect scores were Brooke Roberts, Jordan Tate, Maggie Williams and Molly Williams. The serving champion was Jordan Tate and the all around champion with the most points combined was Shawn-Hudson Seegraves.

In the first round of the first annual Mohawk PeeWee Classic tournament Kyson Brannon beat Rebekah Potts 7-5 and Bethany Raspberry got by Pearson Hearn 7-2. In the second round Shawn-Hudson Seegraves got by Kyson Brannon 7-6, Maggie Williams beat Brooke Roberts 7-1, Jordan Tate downed Bethany Raspberry 7-0 and Kirsten Smith got past Molly Williams 7-4.

In the semi-finals Seegraves defeated Maggie Williams 7-4 and Tate squeaked by Smith 7-6.

In the third place match it was Smith over Maggie Williams 7-1..and the championship match went to Shawn-Hudson Seegraves over Jordan Tate 7-5.

In the consolation bracket Brooke Roberts defeated Rebekah Potts 7-1 and Molly Williams got by Pearson Hearn 7-6. Roberts beat Raspberry 7-6in the semi and Kyson Brannon shut out Molly Williams 7-0. Brannon took the consolation final over Roberts 7-4.