Blue Ridge resident and owner of a vintage tennis museum, Mountain Tennis, Mel Locklear is spending his spare time giving free tennis lessons to local kids.
For nearly four years now, four afternoons a week, from 3:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, Locklear can be found at the Blue Ridge City Park off of Jones Street “feeding tennis balls” to any child who would like to learn how to play or improve their tennis game.
A life-long tennis player himself since the age of eight, Locklear said that he “got involved 15 years ago with the park system and that was a great forum for me to develop a desire to have a second career of growing tennis in the mountains.”
And that is exactly what Locklear has done by volunteering his time and passing along his love for tennis.
“Youth need an introduction to a variety of opportunities to help them determine how best to pursue their happiness, and as a rewarding sport for life, youth tennis deserves greater community exposure.
I’m just so thankful for his generosity with his time and talent. - Carrie Minear
“Tennis is fun, but it is really about helping the kids develop skills for life. That’s what its really about. Introducing tennis to youth increases the likelihood they remain physically active later in life, and tennis is often associated with high achievement,” Locklear said.
Locklear went on to explain that he believes that youth are the future of any community, and that by giving his time and passing along his knowledge and passion for tennis, he feels that he is contributing to helping youngsters become successful and happy young adults.
“I am a retired old man still focused on achievement and ego. Coaching tennis allows me to feel a sense of worth in the community. And giving really does feel good. Much better than receiving. Plus, I get to be the biggest, oldest kid on the court, and be the boss,” Locklear said.
“If you can get out there with us two days a week, just during summer, three months in the summer, you’ll be a decent tennis player for the rest of your life. ...But, if you’ll give 20 hours a week for 10 years, that’s 10,000 hours” to become an expert tennis player or an expert in anything else that someone wants to be really good at, Locklear went on to say.
One of the many kids that Locklear has given lessons to at the city park is Carrie Minear’s daughter, Anna Beth. Anna Beth started taking lessons with Locklear about a year ago and made the Fannin County High School tennis team as a freshman.
“My daughter has been blessed to have started with him from the beginning and is still playing every week with him. I’m just so thankful for his generosity with his time and talent,” Carrie Minear said.