DOBBINS HEIGHTS — Travis Bennett returned to his hometown this week to help teach youngsters the fundamentals of what he calls an “overlooked sport”: tennis.
Bennett grew up just down the street from the current location of Dobbins Heights Town Park and is spending part of his week leading a free tennis camp.
Currently living in Raeford and working as a guidance counselor at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, Bennett started playing tennis around the age of 14 and was on Richmond Senior High School’s team for three years.
“My brother was kinda upset with me because I’m really a baseball player,” Bennett said. “But when my father passed away … I kinda lost the love for the sport.
“Tennis was a hobby that I just picked up,” Bennett continued. “I just started playing, I was hitting the balls all out into the street — and I enjoyed it. So every waking moment I had a chance to, I was on the tennis courts.”
Bennett’s success in the sport led to him being awarded a tennis scholarship to St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, where he played for four years — playing No. 1 as a junior and senior. After college, Bennett said he played a few tournaments, but tennis took a back seat after his first son was born. “I still enjoy it,” Bennett said, adding that he coached at Jack Britt for six years before assuming his current role. He said he was named Coach of the Year in 2018 after the team won all regular matches during the season. “It’s a sport that I think I’m going to be playing all my life,” Bennett said. “Can’t play football all your life because you … can’t get tackled. Basketball, you can’t run up and down the court that much.” With tennis, Bennet said, he can “just get some exercise and try to stay young.” The three-day camp came about after Bennett received a call from his cousin, Jean Davis, program coordinator for the Community Center, who said she wanted to do something a little different for the kids as part of the town’s summer camp. “It kinda shocked me because, the whole while I was growing up here, I played…down the street,” Bennett said, adding that the Dobbins Heights tennis courts were run down and never available. The town repaved the tennis and basketball courts around 2016 and made additional repairs a few years later. “Whenever she called me and told me she was going to have a clinic for the kids and wanted me to come out and show ‘em, I was too happy to do it,” Bennett said. “Because tennis is really an overlooked sport in this community — it’s always football and basketball and baseball.” Helping Bennett out on the court was rising senior Jordan Jacobs, who the Raiders’ top-seeded player this past season. Jacobs said he started hitting the court around the age of 3 with his grandad, but said he would have liked a camp like this one when he was younger, adding that there weren’t many resources at the time. “I just hope that the kids stick with it,” Bennett said. “You don’t hear of a whole lotta kids in an area like this playing tennis.” One of the students in the camp, 12-year-old Kingston Harris of Hamlet, seemed to be catching on quickly to the game. Although he also likes basketball and football, the rising seventh-grader at Hamlet Middle said he will “probably” try to play when he gets to high school. The tennis camp, which ends Thursday, is part of the town’s six-week summer camp which kicked off June 10 with a pool party. The camp will be off next week for the July 4th holiday. After leaving the court, the campers went back over to the Community Center where they learned how to plant as part of the science and nature workshop. While they were doing that, a crowd of kids from the Leak Street summer program came to use the town’s pool. See photos below.
