SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Following an incredible 16-1 season that saw the Golden Eagles win the District 6-AA Championship as a team, Shelbyville Central hosted its 11th-annual Youth Tennis Camp in partnership with the Shelbyville Recreation Center earlier this week.

The camp is typically for ages 5-12, but Shelbyville Central Head Coach, Allison Smith, said that this year the youngest is two-and-a-half years old. Smith also noted that they had 26 campers this year learning the joy and benefits of the sport of tennis, up from 2025’s 22.

“Each year, we have repeat campers, and they bring friends,” Smith said, “It’s good for kids to have the opportunity to learn a sport that they can play for a lifetime. It’s good for our kids, the high schoolers, to be able to contribute in a way as well. Even though this is kind of a team when you get to Middle School and High School, it is still singles, and it’s on you to go out and perform. Teaching them about being able to learn how to play it – because it’s a mental game – there are so many life lessons in tennis that you can take away from it.”

Assisting in teaching the children are most members from the Shelbyville Central tennis program, including District 6-AA Runner-Up, Lilly Smith, as well as members of the Golden Eagles team that finished 2026 as the Region 3-AA Runners-Up.

“Our kids are great,” Smith said, “They pour into the campers. You can see sometimes that some haven’t been around younger kids, and it teaches them how to care for them or how to teach them to do something. Also, for the campers, they might not have an older sibling, and they’re taking away something positive when they come here. We try to have a lot of fun when we’re teaching them. Nobody should ever feel like they can’t accomplish something, even if it’s small.”

The camp lasted three days – Monday through Wednesday – and went from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. each morning.