By Eric Poe/sports editor

NE Campus will hold its biannual tennis and racquetball tournaments 1-3 p.m. April 21.

Each will take place on their respective courts located behind and inside the gym. Both tournaments are open to all students, faculty and staff. Sign-ups will be available at the courts before the games begin. 

Tournament organizer Kim Kerby-Dickman, herself a fan of both sports, said it will help with advertising available course offerings to the students.

“With these Saturday sessions, we are trying to promote classes that are offered both as credit and continuing education and to promote activities that can be done toward lifetime fitness,” she said.

“It gives as many [students] as possible a chance to participate and if they are interested and would take classes or even just come to play.”

Kerby-Dickman expects 12-18 participants in each category, which means no one will be forced to wait to play. She said it is open to people new to the sport to give it the old college try, and players will be provided racquets if they do not have one already.

“We would like to be able to convert a newcomer to a participant,” she said. “We would be able to show them what the sport is all about.”

With the chance there will be many newbies, Kerby-Dickman said she doesn’t know how competitive the tournaments will be.

“Depends on the type of participants we have that come,” she said. “Sometimes they just want to play around. Sometimes they want some instruction, and sometimes they come to play others they don’t usually play.”

Kerby-Dickman, who has played both sports since her college days and even coached tennis, said tennis and racquetball are good sports to at least try.

“[They are] wonderful activities to do the rest of your life,” she said. “[You] meet wonderful people. It’s a great workout being outside, and it’s fun to do.”