36th Tennis Camp concludes at Soyuzivka with awards ceremony
by Petrusia Sawchak
KERHONKSON, N.Y. - Twenty-five children age 10 to 17 came this year to the Ukrainian National Association estate, Soyuzivka, from June 21 to July 3 to learn the fundamentals of tennis, play competitive tournaments, make new friends and have lots of fun.
The director of the camp since its inception in 1968 is George Sawchak, a known Ukrainian and United States Tennis Association (USTA) senior ranked player, organizer and tennis instructor.
This year he was joined by Yuri Kusina, a certified USPTA coach, from Glendale, Calif., who assisted Mr. Sawchak. Olya Czerkas, a teacher from St. Petersburg, Fla., provided 24-hour camp supervision off courts. Camp counselors were Marko Czerkas and Ann Voytsehovska.
The campers had between five and six hours of intensive tennis practice daily, which included instruction in basic strokes and court strategies. This culminated with competitive play and a chance to win awards. Conditioning exercises at the start of each day built on-court stamina.
Campers also enjoyed Soyuzivka's Olympic-size swimming pool during the day and some exciting night swims - especially when the evenings were warm and inviting. In addition, hikes to the Green Pool and the rocks guided by Soyuzivka's staff added to the camp experience. Movies and dances helped round out the fun times.
The last few days of camp were devoted to tennis tournaments. The results of the singles competitions were as follows:
The boys' and girls' doubles matches were won by Georg Gussak and Alex Charchalis, with second place going to the Julian Chernyk and Andrew Klokiw team.
During the final night of Tennis Camp awards were presented to the winners and second-place finishers in each singles group, and recognition was given to the winning doubles teams.
The coveted best camper trophies were awarded to Alexander Puzyk, Mr. Chernyk, Christina Vorobets and Alyssa Kowcz.
Mr. Sawchak and the staff thanked everyone for making the camp successful. He encouraged everyone to continue to play tennis and to participate in tournaments of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada and the USTA. He added that skills learned on the tennis courts namely mutual respect, honesty and fairness are important in other areas of life.
The campers were addressed also by Nestor Paslawsky, manager of Soyuzivka.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 27, 2003, No. 30, Vol. LXXI
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