Taggart, OVTT send youths to Weil Academy
by Misty Volaski

When Tara Saylor asked her tennis instructor to sign her Weil Tennis Academy/Mike Taggart scholarship application, he threw it in her face, saying her dream of being on the UCLA women's tennis team was unrealistic and stupid.
She proved him and other nay-sayers wrong Tuesday when she, Caleb Sommer and Nathalie Selleslags were presented with the Weil scholarship at a Tennis Tournament meeting.
The grants were made possible by the Ojai Tennis Tournament committee, a generous donation by Mike Taggart and a reduction in tuition fees by Weil. Taggart, Ojai resident since 1957, said his $9,000 donation was his way of giving back to the community. "Tennis in Ojai has been very good to me over the years," he said. This is the first time scholarships of this magnitude have been awarded.
Mark Weil, head of the Weil Academy for the past five years, commented, "I have dealt with a lot of young people. I always knew that extraordinary kids existed in Ojai. I am really excited we found three truly extraordinary kids from Ojai to attend the academy this semester."
Selleslags, 14, currently has a 4.0 grade point average at Nordhoff High School, where she is taking college prep classes and playing on the Lady Ranger tennis team. She has always loved tennis, and would like to play for Stanford when she graduates from high school.
Sommer, 14, is being home-schooled in addition to attending Algebra II math classes at Ventura College. He became interested in tennis when his brother began to take lessons from a coach from their church. He now sets his hopes on playing college tennis and possibly going pro.
Saylor, 15, is the only one of the three who will be attending the Weil Academy for academics as well as for tennis. A member of the Nordhoff tennis team, as well, she shagged balls and helped teach young kids in exchange for tennis lessons. She originally began playing tennis just for the fun of it, but soon realized her skill and began taking the sport more seriously. She thanked the committee for believing that her dreams could become a reality.
If one thing is to be said about the three soft-spoken, modest kids, it is that they are wild about tennis. "I am just really excited that this offer was given to me," said Selleslags.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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