Following his sophomore tennis season at Riverside High School in Scranton, Pa., Andrew Sheridan had a few parts of his game he really wanted to target.

Considering he wants to play in college in a couple of years, Sheridan decided he wanted to work on changing up his serve. He also wanted to experience competition against a new group of players and go through high-level training.

After obtaining one of the nearly 30 camp scholarships available through USTA Middle States, Sheridan did just that.

Sheridan attended the Chirico-Cohen Nike Tournament Training Camp at Chestnut Hill College over the summer, where he spent five days training with and competing against other high-level players from around the state.

The Nike Tournament Training Center, near Philadelphia, is one of several Nike Tennis Camps in Middle States, with others in Elizabethtown, Pa., and at New Jersey’s Lawrenceville School.

“We worked on a little bit of everything,” Sheridan said. “It was good to get some practice with serve and volley and to focus on approach shots and other drills you don’t always see.”

Sheridan said the experience of a full week of tennis is something he couldn’t duplicate on his own, and it allowed him to target very specific skills that can separate a good player from a great one. It was also a chance to meet a new group of players — many of who he became friends with, and could even face in tournaments down the road.

“It was a new environment and a different type of experience,” he said. “I played against a lot of different styles and picked up a lot about my own game.”

Click here to learn more about the various camp scholarships and other grants available through USTA Middle States.