QCV QuickStart PRO Receives ITA Honor
Charlottesville, Virginia (8/26/2013) – QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia, Inc. (QCV) is pleased to report that Nicole Parker, a QCV QuickStart PRO for the past 
two summers and a member of Longwood University’s Women’s Tennis Team, has been named a Scholar-Athlete by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). She sported a 3.7 GPA for 2012/2013. Also, the Longwood Women’s Team has received the ITA All-Academic Award for the second consecutive year.
Nicole, shown here with QCV Board member and QCV QuickStart PRO Director Rich Michaels, has taught tennis during summer school in Albemarle (for Yancey Elementary kids), Buckingham and Cumberland counties, and at Simpson Park in Esmont.
A Richmond native, Nicole is entering her senior year at Longwood, majoring in elementary education. She will do her practice-teaching at Cumberland Elementary School this fall.
Michaels says, “I don’t think I could have asked for a better inaugural QuickStart PRO than Nicole. From her first day with me in Buckingham County last summer, she was ready to go. Fresh, right out of the box! No assembly required! And in two weeks’ time or so, she begins her student teaching “partnering” assignment with Cumberland County Elementary School, teaching the same kids she taught this summer in her very first solo QuickStart PRO adventure.”
Lynda Harrill, QCV QuickStart Tennis Coordinator says, “Nicole has been the perfect QuickStart PRO. She loves kids and tennis. She is living proof of the conclusions reached in a recent USTA report — “More Than a Sport: Tennis, Health and Education” — in which the USTA surveyed over 55,000 high school students and found that tennis players do better in academics and in life than kids who play other sports or who don’t participate in sports at all. And the best part is, all the benefits of tennis apply to kids across all socio-economic groups. Tennis can be very powerful for kids who need some structure in their lives. Nicole has the passion, skills and career aspirations to make a real, hands-on difference in the lives of kids. What a role model for kids and future QuickStart PROs!”
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QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia is an all-volunteer, grassroots Community Tennis Association established in 2009 as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization to promote, develop and grow QuickStart Tennis in 22 counties and one independent city in central Virginia for all beginners, especially underserved youth. Visit QCV at: www.quickstartcentral.org
QCV’s Service Area includes Albemarle, Amelia, Brunswick, Buckingham, Charlotte, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Prince Edward, Powhatan and Rappahannock counties and the City of Charlottesville.