The Selma Recreation Department’s summer tennis program will start June 1 and run throughout July.

The program is for ages 6 and up and will take place from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 8-10 a.m. on Saturdays.

“This is a valuable program because the city of Selma has tennis courts throughout the city and there is a group of children that cannot afford tennis lessons that’s not being addressed,” said Bernard Sewell, who runs the program and started the Selma-Montgomery-Tuskegee Tennis Foundation in 1996. “We try to market and get those children that would not normally have the opportunity to play tennis and we’ve been very successful. Some children have gone on and played tennis in college.”

Sewell, a Selma native, served as the head tennis coach at Alabama State University from 1997 until 2011. Now he’s giving back the knowledge he learned from the game.

“We teach them the basic fundamentals,” Sewell said. “We teach them to step and swing, the fundamentals for the forehand, backhand … and get them to perform by the end of the summer where they are able to play a game and keep score.”

Sewell said they usually have about 60 to 80 people that attend the program during the summer. He encourages those taking part to get their own equipment, but he said attendees should go to the first meeting so they can find out what equipment is recommended.

During Monday and Wednesdays, the program will start with a 5:30-6:30 p.m. session for youth ages 6-12. A 6:30-7:30 p.m. session will follow for ages 13-17 and a final session, which runs from 7:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., will be for those 18 and up.

Saturday sessions are for all age groups and last from 8-10 a.m.

For more information on the tennis program, contact the recreation department at 874-2140 or 874-2141.