Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

In January 2013, new Maitland resident, Amy McCully and her husband Kyle, received a postcard in the mail advertising the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando's sports & fitness programs. They had been shopping for a place to work out and take group exercise classes, and found that the JCC was the perfect fit.

"I was in a group fitness class just about everyday," said McCully, who at the time was running the children's tennis program at the Winter Park Tennis Center. Her love for tennis led her to inquire about a JCC Cardio Tennis class.

"I soon came to realize the potential for a recreational tennis program at the JCC."

So she had an informal conversation with one of her tennis students, Lisa Geiger, who happened to be a longtime member of the Roth JCC. Geiger recommended that she propose the idea of creating a new recreational tennis program to the JCC, so that is what she did.

Now, one year later, McCully has established an active adult and child recreational tennis program for the JCC with her company, All About Tennis Management.

"With very few kids participating in tennis in 2013, I basically started from scratch," McCully said. She has found great success in her tennis instruction skills, combined with her fun-loving, approachable personality.

This January when she launched, the JCC tennis program had 45 children in group lessons, but ended the spring session with 70 children. Now, McCully is operating Tennis Camp, which runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (with extended care available) through Aug. 8.

McCully also teaches a Cardio Tennis class for adults on Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m. (babysitting is available in KidZone at that time). She is also teaching indoor private and semi-private lessons for children ages 4-6, and plans to add a slate of additional programs this fall.

"I could not have done it without the JCC's positive atmosphere and staff promoting my programs and some participating themselves," McCully said. "It is a very positive and rewarding place to have a community tennis program."

According to McCully, the JCC has a "dream set-up" for a community tennis program - beautiful courts without the challenge of how to get kids to their program after school, since the JCC already has that after school pick-up infrastructure in place.

"Amy's energy, enthusiasm, and expertise as a tennis pro makes her a very sought-after instructor," said Royal Webster, the JCC's sports, fitness & aquatics director. "She has reinvigorated the tennis program here at the JCC, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for our tennis program."

Tennis has been a longtime passion of McCully's, having taken up the sport when she was 12 years old in Michigan. By age 16, she was recruited to teach for a well-known tennis management company in Michigan, and then went on to compete at the college level at Spring Arbor University, where she earned a degree in Exercise Science, focusing on Recreation and Leisure Management and Business.

McCully keeps herself busy. When she is not at the JCC or spending time with her husband, Kyle, she is also a USTA (United States Tennis Association) Jr. Team Tennis League coordinator and the first Jr. Grand Prix Tennis director, running events twice a month for kids to start using the skills they learned in programs.

She encourages people to "pick a day or two a week and commit to trying for a month and see what you think. Everyone can learn tennis and I rarely see someone that doesn't like it. You will see faster improvement if you do more than one day a week, but everyone should learn to play, since it is a sport you can play your entire life at any level."

To learn more, call the Roth JCC at 407-645-5933 or visit http://www.orlandojcc.org. McCully can be reached directly at allabouttennisamy@gmail.com or visit her website, allabouttennis.net.