[7/11/03]A Vicksburg tennis league came a step closer to reality this week when the Vicksburg Parks and Recreation Department hired David Wilson to lead a USA Tennis program this fall.

Wilson’s hiring is in response to a $5,000 grant the city received from the United States Tennis Association and the National Recreation and Park Association.

Vicksburg was one of 50 cities the only one in Mississippi to receive a grant out of 275 applicants. A term of the grant was that the city hire a certified tennis professional to run the program.

Now that Wilson is in place, he and recreation director Craig Upton are preparing to meet the grant’s other guidelines.

“Our goal is to reach 200 kids and 50 adults in the program,” Upton said. “We’re trying to get a league going.”

If the program draws close to the 250 participants it will again be sponsored by the USTA next year.

Upton and Wilson are planning to begin recruiting children from the ages 8-18 and adults to join teams for a league that will begin August 23 and run through the end of September.

Matches are slated for Saturday mornings at the Vicksburg Country Club’s tennis courts. Practices will be during the week.

Upton said to promote the league the Mississippi Tennis Association is planning a tennis-themed carnival at the VCC, tentatively scheduled for August 16.

The league will be instructional in nature, Upton said, and Wilson is set to coach all comers.

Wilson was a professional at River Hills in Jackson for seven years before coming to Vicksburg a few months ago.

He played collegiately at South Carolina.

Wilson said he was very optimistic about the league reaching its participation goals.

“I’m 100 percent sure we’ll get the 50 adults,” Wilson said. “I’m extremely confident about the 200 children.

“I’d like to have 220 to be honest.”

Age groups for children will be split every two years, and 15-year-olds and up will be co-ed.

The cost to join the league is $30, and that charge covers the six-week season, a t-shirt and a one-year membership in the USTA.

For more information call David Wilson at 634-0318.