Year-round camps keep long-time Warner Robins tennis teacher Bacon in the game
For anyone in Middle Georgia who has ever played tennis, the name Kerry Bacon and tennis camp are synonymous, and it’s no wonder. The 59-year-old tennis guru has been teaching the sport for nearly 41 years.
Bacon said he’s taught more than 20,000 students in Middle Georgia over the years and that more than 100 students have gone on to play college tennis.
Bacon’s tennis teaching career started about 1975, he said, when he was playing and doing well in tournaments and was asked to teach the summer tennis camps at what was then the Houston County Recreation Department.
As a player, Bacon has won dozens of state tournament titles and six Southern titles. In 2007, he won a national title as a member of the six-person team representing Georgia in the 8.0 Senior Mixed Doubles.
“In the mid 1970s, there was a huge tennis boom ... it was very popular back then ... a real big deal at that time,” he said, adding that there were only four big courts at the Warner Robins Recreation Department (there are 10 now) and four courts at Ted Wright Park. In addition, there were two tennis courts each at Shirley Hills, Westside and Miller elementary schools.
After Bacon graduated from the University of Georgia, he started teaching tennis year-round with his Kerry Bacon Tennis Camps. He was also the men’s and women’s head tennis coach at Mercer University, where he worked through the 1980s and 1990s.
Although Bacon is retired from teaching at Mercer, he still holds tennis camps year-round. This year, his one-week summer camps were held in May and June.
In the beginner camps, Bacon said, students learn about the forehand, backhand and serve. They also play singles and doubles fun games for practice. The older students have tougher drills and learn strategies, grips, tops spins, slices and a variety of serves. They also learn overheads, lobs and how to play the net and volley.
Coleen Sofranec of Warner Robins, whose two children, Jeffrey, 12, and Makayla, 17, have been taking lessons from Bacon for about four years, said that when she moved to Warner Robins from Florida and started looking for a tennis coach, Bacon’s name was the only name that repeatedly popped up.
“He is pretty well known everywhere,” she said.
Sofranec said that while vacationing in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, her children were playing tennis at the condo and met players who actually knew Bacon.
“I think he is just fantastic,” said Sofranec. “He is very patient. ... He always makes the kids feel good about themselves ... no matter what level they’re playing at. “
Bacon had knee surgery this year, but Sofranec said it didn’t dampen his energy and enthusiasm for the game.
“He is out there for the love of the game,” she said. “I have seen my kids grow immensely with the game. If they enjoy the game and have a good coach, they are going to flourish.”
With summer tennis camps done, Bacon has already started filling up schedules for the fall camps to be held Mondays and Thursdays, Sept. 7 through Nov. 19.
“I am retired ... (so) we keep it real cheap and real fun. ... (we) try to make it enjoyable for the kids,” he said.
Although Bacon said he is cutting back his teaching hours, he still conducts tennis camps for venues other than the recreation department. He will oversee the Adult Banana Tournament Aug. 7-9 in Perry at the Middle Georgia Tennis Center. This tournament, for adults 18 and older and 50 and older for singles, doubles and mixed doubles, is a qualifier for the larger “Big Banana” tournament held in Hilton Head Island. Bacon said there is usually a large group from the Macon, Warner Robins and Perry area that qualifies for the Hilton Head tournament.
For more information about the tennis camps and tournaments, Bacon can be contacted at Jbacon1@wind stream.net.
To contact Kimberly Pritchett, email kcpritchett@gmail.com
This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Year-round camps keep long-time Warner Robins tennis teacher Bacon in the game."