Awesome Christian Tennis Camp!

We have had an amazing time here in beautiful Palm Coast, Florida at the International Christian Tennis Association's High Performance Christian Tennis Camp.

This is Scott Paschal, I run the place...

and I love tennis!

I love to coach tennis and I love to hit balls.

Tennis is the greatest sport in the world. I wish each of you could come visit me and train! I wish I had more room to bring in more players. This Christian tennis camp has been outstanding and you would love it.

Yes, I wrote Christian. Such a scandalous word these days!

But, you know what? I don't care! Jesus is the real deal. If you don't believe me, give me a call. I'll be glad to tell you all about Him, as well as answer your tough questions. I may just be a smalltime preacher, but I'm not afraid to answer the hard questions about Jesus that people need answered.

With the God of the universe on my side, how could I be afraid!? And to me, it takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian! So, call me and let's talk.

The weather has been fantastic for our 2 a day workouts! My students have been a blast! This group was fun, and I mean fun! I keep my camps small, just 7 to 10 players total so I can really develop them. As such, we all have so much fun getting to really know each other.

Here are a few pics to let you meet everyone! I'll write more in a bit...

A quick pic during practice of ICTA Christian Tennis Campers! In this pic is Jesse, Jon, Me, Rachel,and Chris. Not in pic are Joe, Kara, Melody, and Mark.

Playing some doubles at the end of workout!

I love to cook! This night I cooked some chicken on the grill outside. We also had mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and fresh snapped green beans. This is a pic of (lt to rt) Chris, Mark, Melody Snelen, Kara, and Rachel Snelen. We had a blast hitting balls twice today, enjoyed a great dinner, then they all went bowling in their pajamas before coming back home and destroying a delicious watermelon!

This is a pic of the kitchen in my house. I'm there in the back wearing a white sleeveless shirt. We're all hanging out spending some time with Mark's mom, Robin (rt). Robin and her husband are missionaries in Mexico. Mark (fulltime student) is seated at the table in the light blue shirt.

The gang loves to go bowling in their pajamas! Chris is THE worst bowler in the world.

Finishing lunch!

Here's a pic of Kara and Jesse playing ping pong. I love ping pong! It is amazing for hand eye coordination... and much better for teamwork and bonding than TV or the internet!

What a fantastic time I have enjoyed with a special group of Christian athletes during my tennis camp these last few weeks! We have all enjoyed an incredible experience of growing closer to Christ. I am always in awe of God working in the hearts and minds of young athletes when they are immersed in His word.

You see, I am not only passionate about world class tennis and want my students to improve way beyond their wildest expectations, which I have seen over and over, I am also passionate about Jesus! I am totally consumed with love for the God of the universe.

I wasn't always, but I am now. My life as a teen and a young adult was difficult... parent's divorce, Dad's death, sports injuries... I was heading the wrong way in a big way!

But, God used my old football coach and a pastor to keep me from giving up completely. Their positive Christian influence helped shape the life of a scared and lonely young kid named Scott Paschal! These two men of God pointed to Jesus and taught me what He looks like.

They loved me and cared about me, though I didn't see much of me that was worth their love. God reached me!

So, now I am a person who loves the Lord with all I have and I want to tell everyone about eternal Salvation through faith in Jesus! Wow, I get excited just typing this!

Ok, back to the camp! We pounded the fuzz off of those tennis balls in 2 a day workouts. Man, I love hitting tennis balls. And I love hitting twice a day!

We'd all wake up and have breakfast, enjoy a wonderful Discipleship Training, then jump on our Gary Fisher mountain bikes to ride to the courts. Everybody was stoked (oops, '80's vocab... sorry teens) to hit for the entire camp.

I get excited because I can say every single player in my camp improved every single day! How many coaches can say that and how many parents would 100% agree. I love seeing my kids get stronger, faster, more flexible, quicker, smarter!

We pounded the ball in 2 on 1 change of direction drills. We worked hard in the hot Florida sun. We had an amazing time pushing ourselves to achieve our best.

Workouts were so strong and confident I couldn't wait for the next one! Every kid improved! Every kid had a blast! Our stereo system was blasting out some tunes, the kids were pounding the ball, I'm coaching and hitting! AWESOME!

But, as fun as the tennis training was... something even better was going on. I was teaching a fantastic series on Leadership Development in our Discipleship Training after breakfast!

Kids today have little knowledge of leadership skills! You know what kids today know!? They know how to isolate themselves. They lock themselves in their own little worlds while singing the tune me-me-me. A typical top junior tennis player today looks like this...

They spend most of their day isolated and alone. They sit in front of a laptop computer for 6 to 10 hours a day. What do they do... they IM (instant message) their friends, write emails, and mindlessly surf the net. While doing this they usually have a set of headphones pumping garbage into their heads from their IPOD with at least 5000 songs on it most of which they stole of the www with Limewire. Of course their cell phone is busily ringing or dialing or taking pics or receiving messages. And during this mess they take breaks to play video games or watch TV!

Kids today are in trouble! They have learned to shut out the real world and live in a fantasy world of isolation!

To help, I speak passionately about the need for Christian kids to stand up and be different from the world. How can they lead someone to Christ if they are locked in their own little, isolated, world!? And how can they lead someone to Christ when they have no leadership skills!?

So, for this awesome Christian tennis camp we focused on Christian leadership skill development.

We studied such things as Character, Charisma, commitment, Communication, Competence, Courage, Discernment, Focus, Generosity, Initiative, Listening, Passion, Positive Attitude, Problem Solving, Relationships, Responsibility, Security, Self-Discipline, Servanthood, Teachability, and Visions.

Wow, that's great stuff! The kids ate it up! They loved it. They know they needed it and they loved how it began to rewire their way of viewing the world!

Jesus is amazing. He is so opposite of boring! Yes, the Bible is totally able to out-do the internet any day! When kids start to understand their responsibility as young Christian men and women, they begin to crave learning more about Jesus!

We had such a GREAT time together. From Ping Pong wars, to bowling in their pajamas, to board games, to swimming at the beach after workout, to Christian videos & Discipleship training, to homecooked meals, to 2 a day tennis workouts... this has been another AWESOME tennis camp.

The Fall Semester is shaping up to be just as incredible! The kids coming in are going to grow so much in their faith. The focus around here is Jesus. Everything points to Him!

Hitting tennis balls and telling people about Jesus... can life get any better!!?

God bless!

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net
386 793 0557