Tennis can be a difficult sport to start up with coaches, gear and courts being not easily accessible or affordable for everyone.
That thought, and a passion for the sport, brought the idea of “Love All” to Golden Valley junior Andrew Yoon.
“I started playing tennis when I was really young and, over time, I realized that it’s not the most accessible sport,” Yoon said. “You really need a coach or somebody to guide you and show you technique. So, I created this camp to break that barrier and make it accessible to everyone. Hence the name, Love All.”
Yoon founded Love All, a free local tennis camp for youth novice players ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. Yoon and several other Foothill League tennis stars brought their knowledge and their own time for the free camp last week.
Love All drew over 30 campers with sessions from Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon at Valencia Heritage Park. The coaches and dozens of youth players worked on drills, played games and, most importantly, had fun.
The idea of a camp became a reality quickly for Yoon as the junior spread the word of the free sessions over Facebook and, within an hour of signups opening up, one camper was inked in. It was a huge win getting one youth player interested but after a couple of days, Yoon had 30 signups.
Yoon already needed some help but now extra coaches were vital.
Valencia’s Vedant Khadiya, West Ranch’s Kaden Sasaki, Castaic senior Ian Ramirez, Golden Valley junior Janice Jin and Grizzly teammates Nathan Chon and Logan Gunter all came in to coach Love All during the week.
“I’m nothing without these guys because they’re the ones who make up the team,” Yoon said. “More coaches makes it more fun and makes this session easier and organized. Huge props to all the volunteers that came out to teach these sessions.”
The coaches all provided rackets, tennis balls, water and snacks throughout the week, ensuring the participants’ parents they wouldn’t spend a dime for the clinic.
Only seven campers showed up on the first day, leaving a lot of uncertainties for the week. Yoon and the coaches didn’t really know what to expect but planned on giving their all to guiding the young players whether it was one camper or 50.
“We didn’t know how many kids were going to show up so we just went with the flow,” Yoon said. “In the end, it worked out really well. The kids had a blast on Monday and throughout the week, the number of kids just kept increasing.”
The numbers nearly doubled the next day and kept growing through Friday as several kids made it out most days while others committed every day to Love All.
“I think it’s gone way better than planned,” Yoon said. “I thought maybe it might stay at seven all throughout the week. But it surprised me how new kids were showing up every day and reoccurring kids were showing up. That really shows their interest in the sport and how this camp is fostering that interest with kids who might have not even thought about tennis before.”
Throughout the week, the novice players gained instrumental technique from the older coaches. The campers worked on nearly every foundational part of tennis with keen insight from some of the best local varsity talent.
Overall, Love All was considered a massive success for Yoon and the coaches, who are mostly in the midst of a tough varsity season. Yoon plans to keep Love All going, with plenty of blueprints for expansion. The Golden Valley junior is aiming to talk to the city of Santa Clarita in hopes to reserve courts for camp times but also hopes to expand his brand beyond the city and provide tennis for even more children in Southern California.
Love All is off to a great start in Santa Clarita, but its free one-week camp at Valencia Heritage last week may only be the beginning.
“I was excited to get out here and teach the kids,” Yoon said. “It’s just been super fun teaching with fellow players and fellow competitors, from the Hart district. Teaching these kids and just sharing that same passion for tennis that I have onto these kids, it’s just amazing to see. I’m super excited for what the future holds for Love All.”
