When Van Buren varsity tennis coach Leah Levasseur was looking around for ways to get children involved in tennis at younger ages, she was just hoping to generate more interest in the sport and possibly make her job a bit easier in the process.

“Some of our players were coming into the program as beginners and with tennis being such a short season, I didn’t have time to teach them the basics,” Levasseur explained. “So, four years ago, I started this program with grants available from the USTA.”

Since then, Levasseur’s United State Tennis Association summer program has already started paying big dividends.

The most immediate is an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles for 14-year-old incoming Van Buren freshman Amber Martin, who started playing in Levasseur’s program three summers ago.

Martin is one of 32 teens across the country who will be attending the USTA’s week-long National Invitational Tournament in Los Angeles. The $2,500 trip, paid for by the USTA, includes tickets to a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game, a trip to Universal Studios, sightseeing excursions, tennis skills clinics, guest speakers, and tournament play. The emphasis is on individual development, physical fitness, proper nutrition, sportsmanship and training.

“I didn’t even know coach Levasseur nominated me for it. I was so excited when I found out,” said Martin, who has never been further away from home than Florida. “Oh my, I just couldn’t believe it. I hope I get to see Jennifer Capriati.”

Martin is getting a possible chance to meet her favorite player after Levasseur nominated Martin along with her own 10-year-old son David for the trip.

“Last year we established ourselves as a National Junior Tennis League and because of that, they sent me a profile I could fill out for two different players,” Levasseur explained.

Martin was picked as the New England representative.

“They try to reach out to young people with this program who might not normally be able to afford a trip like this,” said Levasseur, who has coached the Crusaders’ tennis team for 10 years. “The only criteria is that they be a current participant in the U.S. Tennis and JTL programs, be between 12 and 14 years of age, and be able to perform certain skills at an intermediate level.”

Martin isn’t the only one to benefit from Levasseur’s six-week USTA summer program, which begins in mid-June. Two other participants – Levasseur’s 10-year-old son David and Michelle Parent, 17 – both recently had their essays on why Arthur Ashe is a sports legend picked by the Arthur Ashe Foundation Essay Contest as Northern Division winners. That means they are two of 64 national finalists. The male and female winners will get a trip to New York City for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

Oh, and that primary reason Levasseur started her summer program? The one she began with a few manuals sent by the USTA and 18-19 players in 1999 to its current status as a certified NJT League attracting 29 players along with USTA-donated grant money and equipment?

“It’s definitely paying off,” she said. “The kids coming in as freshmen this year will have taken this program for three or four years. Last year, I had a girl who took it for two years come in [as a freshman] and she’s my number one player.”