Tennis rackets, pizza, drinks and prizes were provided at a collaboration event between the El Camino College Warriors tennis teams and the ECC Men of Color Action Network on Thursday, May 15.

Coach Sergiu Boerica welcomed students onto the ECC Tennis Courts to participate in the El Camino Open, an event which offered the opportunity for students to learn about tennis and get tips from a Warriors coach and student athletes.

Throughout the event, there were approximately 20 students spread out across the courts at any given time.

Boerica went from court to court, showing students how to guide their racket when they swing, while men’s team members Christian Keane and Shubham Waldiya practiced with early arrivals.

“It was great when we saw so many people here. It was wonderful,” Boerica said. “I mean, we didn’t get that many people to come out during our season, so it was good to understand [the] difference between attendance, high attendance and just a few people here and there.”

Women’s team member Jhanine Estigoy said she was happy with the event despite the courts being in an area where not many people pass by.

“There were a lot of people that came by … but the fact that, like, people came out here just to learn how to play tennis even though they have no experience is awesome. I feel like time went by really fast,” Estigoy said.

Women’s team members gave pointers to students, took turns dropping tennis balls for others to hit, then collected the tennis balls with pick-up tubes.

The idea for the collaboration came from a MOCAN member who is on the men’s tennis team.

Jesus Soria, MOCAN member and Associated Students Organization senator of Business, said MOCAN has grown to become more student-led with events and planning.

“This event in particular was led by Moises Ramos and [with his] leadership … [it] turned out to be a great event. There’s a lot of people here,” Soria said.

Boerica said that Ramos wanted to do something on a bigger scale, but more time was needed.

“It was done kind of [at] the last moment,” Boerica said. “The thing is that you need to distribute [advertisements] and let the student population know that this is happening. To do that a week or two weeks before was kind of rushed.”

When you take on a project, all the details have to be considered in order to create atmosphere, Boerica said.

“I’m very pleased how my team, men and women, have helped out because they’ve never been through something like this … and they were able to try to adapt to new people,” Boerica said.

Estigoy said it was satisfying to see her attempts at teaching others actually helped them hit the ball over the net, as well as the in-person interactions.

She brought two friends, who didn’t know each other, to the event.

“Everyone’s interacting with each other. No one is, like, singled out. I brought, like, two of my friends and now they’re, like, talking to each other,” Estigoy said. “Usually on the courts, you know, it’s just the team, so to see other people is awesome.”