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Cool Classes: Tennis


Kristel Alpaca (l-r), Maria Angel, Isaac Richardson, Kiara Allred, Hayden Kidd and Sandra Popayan

Kristel Alpaca graduated in 2018 from Salt Lake Community College with an associate’s degree in business. But there she was recently on a warm summer day at 6 p.m. on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, tennis racquet in hand and ready to learn with her friend Sandra Popayan.

The two were among 12 who had enrolled in Clinton Broadhead’s Tennis II, which teaches students to adjust their strokes “according to power, control, height of bounces, speeds and angles." It’s a course designed for fun, competition and encourages lifelong participation. The “fun” part is what attracts many students like Alpaca, 23, who has an SLCC Zumba class under her belt, and Popayan, 40, new to tennis and loving it.

Kiara Allred unleashes a serve.

Isaac Richardson and Hayden Kidd needed the single course credit from a loaded Lifelong Wellness catalog to fulfill a degree requirement. Richardson, 22, of Sandy, is studying business and plans on transferring to a four-year institution. “It’s been a lot of fun,” he says. “I never tried tennis before. It’s the easiest class I’ve ever taken.” Kidd, 20, of West Valley City, is a computer science major and describes the class as “freaking great.”

Maria Angel, 21, of Holladay, is pursuing a future in dentistry while working on her associate’s degree at SLCC. In the realm of “cool classes” you can take at the college, though not a Lifelong Wellness course, Angel lists marine biology among the top, especially since she had the opportunity to spend a lot of time at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.

Instructor Clinton Broad offers advice to the group.

The ringer in Broadhead’s class, however, has to be Kiara Allred, 18, a newly minted graduate of Union High School and a member of its tennis team for three years. She’s studying health sciences, might be a nurse someday, and naturally figured the class would not only be an easy “A” but also fun – unless you’re on the other side of the net from her. “She’s harassing us,” someone pipes in from the group, which responds in laughter.

Game. Set. Fun, for Allred and everyone else on the court.


Hayden Kidd works on his return (and socks) game!

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