Megan Flora’s love for tennis is a perfect fit for Blaze program
Tennis has always been a part of Megan Flora’s life.
She was exposed to the game early in life and went on to have a stellar prep career at Knoxville Catholic High School.
From KCHS, Flora went to Lee University, where she played in the school’s intramural league.
“My dad played tennis,” said Flora, a third- grade teacher at North Clinton Elementary School who was instrumental in starting the Clinton Blaze Tennis Clinic. “I love teaching the game.”
The Blaze has tennis clinics annually and they are normally open to fifth- and sixth-graders. Since the tennis clinic’s inception, Flora has worked alongside Ernie Brooks and Stephen McNally to bring tennis to the youth athletes of Clinton.
Each clinic begins with instruction in fundamentals.
“We have them pick up a racquet and play and we teach fundamentals,” Flora said.
“We start with the forehand, the backhand and serve and volley.
“Eventually, the goal is to have them play matches against each other. We don’t play against kids from other schools right now. We would like to do that eventually.”
For now, however, Flora is teaching tennis, a sport that athletes can play for the rest of their lives.
“Blaze tennis gives us the unique opportunity to promote tennis,” she said. “We want to instill that love of the game. Unlike other sports like basketball, tennis and golf are games that you can play for the rest of your life.
“You go to the courts, and you see the ladies hitting.”
Flora notes that there is a misconception about tennis — that the game is expensive to play.
“It’s really cheap, and you can almost always find a court to play,” she said. “And you can get a racquet at Goodwill.”
Her goal is to include any player who wants to play, and the coaches at the clinic will provide racquets for players that don’t have one.
“That’s not a huge issue,” Flora said. “They had a racquet drive at Cedar Bluff Racquet Club.”
She teaches at North Clinton, where many of the school’s students have yet to be exposed to tennis. She said she’s looking to bring tennis to those students.
“A lot of those kids don’t know what tennis is,” Flora said. “But everybody wants to be part of something, and that’s necessary, especially these days.”
The Blaze certainly provides those opportunities to the student-athletes in Clinton City Schools.
During the 2021-22 academic year, the Blaze will add a cheerleading team and a color guard.
Flora credits CCS Athletic Director E.T. Stamey and Director of Schools Kelly Johnson for the Blaze’s success.
“We have great support from E.T., Kelly and the community,” she said. “E.T. is a go-getter and if you tell him that you need something, or ask him for anything, he’ll get it.”
