Volunteers are the heart and soul of so many programs and projects in Port Townsend and Jefferson County, from food banks to classrooms to senior services.

In our local tennis world, Julie Wurden Jablonski is the best. In the last three years she has introduced tennis to about 2,500 kids from all four public school districts here, worked with after-school and summer programs, and organized tennis for seniors.

Her extensive contributions have not gone unnoticed. Last week in New York City the U.S. Olympic Committee honored the Port Townsend resident as national Volunteer Coach of the Year for tennis.

"I think an award like this and attending a quality coaching conference really helps re-inspire someone to continue the effort," said Julie, a Port Townsend resident since 1999. "For me, I want to improve my coaching skills. There is always so much to learn about the skills themselves, how the game is changing, how to be more effective as a coach with young players or with high performance players.

"So just when you think the volunteer effort is too much and you want to throw in the towel, something like this comes along and you see it all is making a difference."

Family connection

Tennis is simply in Julie's blood. It's been the favorite sport of the 1978 Central Kitsap grad since she can remember, thanks to her mother, June Wurden.

Now 76, June still is a volunteer coach in Kitsap and competes in senior women’s national tennis.

"I didn't plan on following in the footsteps of my mother but it turned out that way," said Julie. "When you identify a need, and you love a game, and there are children involved and community members and friends … it's something that came naturally."

She took up the tennis leadership banner here in 2006 after meeting with Jefferson County Family YMCA, Jefferson County Parks and Recreation, school district officials and representatives of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). That led to a USTA grant providing tennis equipment.

She formed the Jefferson County Community Tennis Association in January 2007 with the following mission statement: "To promote the development of tennis as a means of healthful recreation, education and physical fitness for Jefferson County residents, and to cooperate with the United States Tennis Association and other associations on a nonprofit, educational and charitable basis in the pursuit of these aims."

All this work is being done on a tight budget. USTA grants have helped and so has a collaborative nature of things. For example, YMCA, county rec and the tennis association all own tennis gear, and it's shared back and forth.

"What's wonderful about Port Townsend is we figured out how to support each other," she noted.

At the U.S. Open

Wurden Jablonski learned of this award in May, but the presentation came last week during the U.S. Open in New York.

"I have wanted to attend the U.S. Open and see the pros since I was a kid. It was better than I expected," she said. "The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is superb. You can watch players on the outer courts up close. The Arthur Ashe Stadium is phenomenal."

One of the many panel discussions she attended, this one with fellow national award-winners Mary Jo Fernandez and John Evert, talked about the importance of grandmothers to tennis.

"And I laughed," because that's exactly what Julie's mother, June, has been to Julie's niece (June's granddaughter, Corinne Wurden). Julie went to New York with Corinne, a Central Kitsap High School grad now playing for the Seattle University tennis team who also coaches at Bremerton Tennis Club.

"People share the love of the game."

The USTA awarded national recognition to four people as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee Coaching Recognition Program.

Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez was named the 2009 USOC National Coach of the Year; John Evert of Boca Raton, Fla., director of the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, was named USOC Developmental Coach of the Year; Julie Wurden Jablonski was named USOC Volunteer Coach of the Year; and Butch Staples of Chicago, Ill., was nominated for the "Doc" Counsilman Science Award for Tennis for his contributions to the sport in the areas of growth and development.

Nationally, tennis is a growing sport, Wurden Jablonski said. Locally, there are vibrant tennis programs for kids in Sequim and on Whidbey Island along with steady interest here.

She was among the first regionally to adopt the USTA's Quick Start tennis program, which uses a 60-foot court instead of the regulation 78-foot court. Portable nets and chalk on the pavement allow four 36-foot courts to be set up at the Grant Street Elementary playground. Young kids have larger rackets and larger balls.

"What's new in tennis is the effort to make it easier for kids to get started," she noted. "Tennis is a game the whole family can play together for not much money."

The start of a new school year brings new tennis projects for Wurden Jablonski. New at Port Townsend's Blue Heron School is a tennis instruction program through the YMCA for grades 4-8 from 8:10 to 8:50 a.m. before class.

Last spring she taught Quick Start tennis and basic court skills for PE classes in Brinnon, Quilcene, Chimacum and Port Townsend, and she's ready to do more this school term.

"We're trying to be creative and offer programs that are healthy, affordable and fun," she noted.

Although tennis is "still the lowest on the totem pole" when it comes to reserving gym space for indoor tennis, she knows the volunteer effort is worthwhile.

"It's not about being one volunteer. It's about getting a lot of people coaching, teaching, sharing what they know about tennis."

And, it's about the kids.

"Better than the award, yesterday I was a Grant Street to pick up some gear and I met a mother and a 5-year-old who said the Parks and Rec Kid Fit program was the best program. Her daughter could not decide if baseball or tennis was her favorite, and decided on tennis because she got to hit the ball."