Virtual volleys U-32's video tournament raises money for tennis team
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Toolbox
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 23, 2008
EAST MONTPELIER – Kenny Saxe isn't much for tennis. But give the man a plastic video-game wand and he starts looking a bit like Bjorn Borg.
Saxe, a special education teacher at U-32, was one of about 40 players competing in a virtual tennis tournament inside the school's gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Even with his wicked backhand, Saxe didn't stand up against his teenage opponent in the second round of the double-elimination contest. Still, the gray-bearded Montpelier man felt good about the effort.
"I'll tell you what – when I got done, I was out of breath. I was pumped," Saxe said. "The strategy, I think, is to just keep swinging."
Thanks to the ingenuity of its Japanese creators, the Nintendo Wii offers winter-bound Vermonters a chance to play indoor tennis on the TV screen. Using wand-like devices, players controlled cartoon avatars projected onto the gym's cinderblock walls.
Organizers hope the approximately $1,000 raised by Saturday's event will help students at the school play the real thing. A group of U-32 educators and parents are working to raise $180,000 by June 1 to construct four courts on school property.
"We've had a tennis team for a long time here, but no courts," said Amy Molina, U-32 athletic director and tournament emcee. "We're trying to find a home for our own kids."
The U-32 tennis team plays on courts in Barre Town and Montpelier. None of the school's five sending towns have outdoor courts. Michael Woodfield, assistant coach for the U-32 tennis team, said the future of the team depends on the courts.
"If the courts at Barre Town became unavailable for some reason, they wouldn't be able to play," he said. "Building these courts is going to give students a great recreational opportunity right in their own backyard."
If Saturday's event was any indication, U-32 might want to consider fielding a varsity Wii squad. Connor Garand, a seventh-grader, doesn't play real tennis very often. But hours of practice in his living room have earned him "professional" status in the video version of the game.
Prepping for a marquis showdown against another Wii master, Garand was all business.
"I play pretty much all the time," Garand said. "Now, I'm really buckling down because it's the tournament and I'm looking to win some games and hopefully make it to the end of the tournament."
His much-anticipated showdown with eighth-grade opponent Luke LaRosa did not disappoint. Each kid had his own cheering section. With the players at deuce in the deciding game, a Garand supporter was heard saying "This is intense."
Garand staged a valiant swing at a hard volley from LaRosa, but the older boy's speed and precision were too much.
"I'm feeling very happy," LaRosa said after his victory.
U-32 will look to raise even more money in the coming weeks as the June 1 deadline approaches. With about two months remaining, the school still has more than $100,000 to go.
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