The bright yellow ball ricochets off Jennifer McKeown’s racket, bouncing across the court and landing into the service box. Her opponent, a senior at Amherst University, misses the ball and her racket goes flying.  McKeown cheers and yells as her team comes over to celebrate.

Only a senior in college at Tufts University, she has just won the State Championship, and has beaten Amherst’s best player.

McKeown has been playing tennis since she was 12-years-old, at St. Louis girl watching her mother become a competent tennis player. Now both are coaches for the Clayton High School girls’ and boys’ tennis teams.

McKeown never made tennis her whole life, and wanted to have some social time where she could forget tennis.

“That helped me continue to enjoy it because I never made it about winning,” McKeown said. “I always made it fun and wanted to play.”

After graduating from Clayton High School in the year 2003, Jennifer then realized that all of her life, she has had this ability to play tennis and has had the skills to make her such a great player.

Today McKeown is a therapist for a non-profit organization,Youth In Need, working in the Parkway School District.  Youth In Need is a crisis prevention and intervention agency that works to support children and teens in need.

Today, McKeown continues to play tennis for a 5.0 league and is soon going to compete in a national’s championship in Palm Springs this fall.

“I have learned that being kind, even when you are critiquing someone on the court can go a long way.” Says senior at Clayton, Michelle Buse.  “Coach Jen taught me how to serve and is gives me lots of small tips as I play.”  Practice of the JV tennis team began in August, with Coach McKeown working with the team of girls daily at Shaw Park.

“Coach Jen has shown me how important it is to stick to something once you’ve  committed to it.” Buse has been playing tennis since her sophomore year, and because she stuck with it, she is now the captain of the JV Girls’ Tennis Team for Clayton High School.   “Coach Jen works really hard with us, even though she has to come straight from work without a break.“

Jennifer McKeown is a good example of talent, hard work, determination. With all of these qualities, this year Clayton will have a successful tennis team.

“You can play tennis for your whole life,” McKeown said. “If they can still hit the ball, they can still play.”