b'Raul Muoz is a veteran CCISD teacher and PE coach who first became involved with Tennis Success in its early days, recruiting kids on his elementary school campus. Many of the students who became interested in tennis already knew Muoz and his wife, also a teacher, providing them a familiar introduction to Tennis Success. Their effort that started at one school, now serves ten school district campuses where up to 30 students each can enter the program and benefit from all the athletic, educational, and social mentoring and support that it provides. The recruiting strategy is targeted toward kids living in the citys toughest neighborhoods, and follows the vertical ar-rangement of elementary and middle schools that feed their respective high school tennis teams. Raul Muoz now serves as the board president of Tennis Success, Inc., where his role as liaison to CCISD has allowed the program to expand its reach be-yond the vision of almost anyone who was there in the early days.Not only does the school district provide a stipend to support students and coaches participating in Tennis Success, but its contribution of a new, dedicated facility has set it up for long-term expansion and the capacity to help more Corpus Christi kids than everand boy, do we need it! If you had not noticed, we have a very serious and ma-lignant youth gun violence problem here, particularly among young adult males. Inci-dents that we used to hear about a couple of times a year are now daily eventsteens shooting other teens, innocent citizens killed by stray gunfire, gun-wielding young men shot and killed by police, and on and on. In one weekend alone in 2024, eleven young people aged 17 to 23 were shot in three separate incidents, two of them killed. Where would I have fallen today? More the have-nots, said Dr. Roland Hernan-Above: Junior champs and Tennis Success students Aaron Briones (left) and Markus Soto (right);dez, superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District, describing Below: Tennis Success kids studying and enjoying a snack, and with Ron Woods (right); Bottom:his childhood growing up in rural Woodsboro, near Refugio. I played lots of tennis Kids displaying their USTA Texas art contest award, and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. growing up, it was my year-round sport, he recalled, Our high school had lighted courts, and I developed a real love for the game.For 23 years, Tennis Success operated at the HEB Tennis Center, but the long-term as-piration was a dedicated facility that allowed room for growth, and was not in competi-tion for court time with for-profit junior training programs, tournaments, adult leagues, and public play. Talks began in early 2023 about the future of the districts lighted ten-nis courts and surrounding property on Tiger Lane, where Carroll High School ten-nis teams trained and competed for over 60 years, winning many championships along the way. Following the opening of the new high school on Kostoryz Road at Saratoga Boulevard, the newly-available site drew the attention of Tennis Success leaders Raul Muoz and Ron Woods, who approached Dr. Hernandez about the possibilities. It was a no-brainer to me, said Hernandez, The program had been so effective in reaching young kids who would not have been exposed to the sport. We were committed to do everything we could do to increase the number of kids served by Tennis Success.Faster than any public partnership assembled in the history of Man, the CCISD board of trustees approved the arrangement that essentially donated the facilities to Tennis Success, plus maintenance, utilities and other expenses. Seven lighted courts were resurfaced, and four new, outdoor pickleball courts were constructed. An indoor gym facility was converted into two pickleball courts, an ample gathering space, and an office and board room, and a second building was turned into the ed-ucation classroom and a pro-shop, where the public can rent courts, arrange lessons and get their rackets strung, with proceeds going to the program.Tennis creates structure thats not there for many of these kids, explained Hernan-dez, The educational benefits are the real reward. Tennis Success gives these kids extended time to their school day, and a place to go on Saturdays. Its very special to see the older kids maturing and helping the youngsters new to the program. With several acres of land potentially available for expansion on Tiger Lane, the next goal for Tennis Success is the construction of a new education building, the current facility already outgrown, just a year after the move from HEB Tennis Center. Hernandez also plans to have tennis courts around the district preserved, as schools are replaced.96THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'