VIDALIA, La. – The Natchez Junior Tennis League wrapped up its season with a friendly match against the new Vidalia Junior Tennis League Thursday at Vidalia Junior High’s tennis courts.

The campers were divided into two teams, one with players from Natchez and the other with players from Vidalia, and took to the courts for fun as the league came to a close.

&uot;We’ve been doing it this way for a while now,&uot; said Vidalia coach Delores Whitley. &uot;It’s just kind of a fun thing for the kids to group themselves together as part of a Natchez or Vidalia team and compete against each other. It’s all in good fun.&uot;

Natchez coach Vincent Harris, son of former Natchez Recreational Department assistant director Henry Harris, said he believes the league is invaluable to a child’s growth and development as not only an athlete, but as a person as well.

&uot;We try to work with them as much as we can, but with the heat the way it is, it’s hard to keep them from getting bored,&uot; he said. &uot;There are a lot of children out here that really like the game, and we try to help them, as well as the others, along the way.&uot;&160;

NJTL coordinator Wilbert Whitley said he believes that as long as this program is in place, there will always be plenty of children who want to participate.

&uot;There are some children out here who’ve got some real potential, and I know that if they keep at it, and keep coming out here every summer, then they should become great tennis players,&uot;&160;he said.

Whitley, who has been the program coordinator for the last two years, said, &uot;It’s obvious by the number of children who are out here that tennis is becoming more and more popular. Not everybody is a football or basketball star, so we’re just trying to offer these children another something that they might be good at.&uot;

Harris, who will join the Marine Corps later this year, said he feels exactly the same way.

&uot;Not everyone can be a football or baseball star, so this is just a way that I&160;can be involved in the development of these young children in other areas,&uot; he said.