My name is Aidan Dunleavy and my mom is the editor/publisher of Macaroni Kid Chappaqua-Pleasantville-Mt.Kisco. I have been checking out fun places for kids in our area this summer and this week I visited Saw Mill Club in Mt. Kisco.
When we got to the club, we headed over to the outdoor tennis courts and met instructor Kevin Higgins. He showed me how to hold a tennis racquet and how to serve. He told me to hold the racquet high and when you hit the ball the racquet should be straight. Then I joined in with the other kids in the tennis camp. All summer, Saw Mill Club runs a junior tennis camp for kids ages 7-18. You can pick from either a half day (9 a.m. - 12 p.m.) or a full day (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.). The camp also includes swimming in their outdoor pool. The first game we played was King of the Court. You start each game at 30-30 and you have to win two points to win the game. If you win, you become the champ of that court. If you win three times then you get to play the instructor and if you beat him, you are King of the Court. A High School kid won and we all cheered! Next I played a game of doubles tennis. While my team lost I learned a lot about how to position myself on the court. I also learned when to hit the ball and when to let it go. I had never played doubles before and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the tennis camp and I don't even play tennis regularly. The instructors were really good and made it fun.
I was pretty hungry after tennis so we headed upstairs to eat at Saw Mill Club Cafe by Myong Gourmet. I had a BLT and a smoothie which were really good. Then it was time for basketball. Basketball is one of my two favorite sports so I was looking forward to my lesson with Coach Marlon Smith (www.marlonsmithbasketball.com). I knew he coached one of the older teams in Chappaqua. Turns out he went to the same high school as my dad in Queens! He has his own program now in Riverdale (Bronx) but does basketball lessons out of Saw Mill Club. We started off with a lot of drills -- reverse righty/lefty and regular righty/lefty drills. We did a dribble series where you dribble to each cone doing a different move or a series of moves. We did a shooting in the paint drill. We also did suicide layups where you run to the foul line and back, then to half-court and back, then to the other foul line and back and lastly to the other base line and back and each time have to make a layup. You have to do that drill in 30 seconds! It was a great workout and Coach Smith is a really good instructor.
Then we checked out the pool. Saw Mill Club has both an outdoor pool and an indoor pool. They also have a playground outside and I saw a lot of little campers playing and listening to stories.
I had a great day at Saw Mill Club. There is a lot to do! They even invited me to come back and take an Aikido Martial Arts class but I wasn't able to. Next time! For more information about Saw Mill Club, visit their website at sawmillclub.com. If you are interested in membership, call Terry Lanza at 914-241-0797.
Macaroni Kid Chappaqua was hosted by Saw Mill Club for this review. All thoughts and ideas are my own.
