Sharing ties to Ukraine, Lincoln students learn the ropes of tennis [Video]

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – More than 30 kids with ties to Ukraine are learning the ins and outs of tennis in Lincoln this week.

Woods Park is holding the tennis camp, led by 26-year-old Mykhailo Ivashchenko, a native of Ukraine.

Ivashchenko said it’s an opportunity to learn the sport from someone who knows their culture.

“It just feels really, really exciting to have someone around you speaking your language,” he said. “All that kind of makes our tennis court this little habitat for Ukrainian children.”

Ivashchenko arrived in the U.S. about 4 years ago, and is currently working on a PhD in computer science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Not long after moving, he found the Woods Tennis Center and began taking lessons, eventually volunteering to teach kids.

Lincoln Public Schools helped to gather kids of Ukrainian descent from across the city.

Sarah Salem, associate superintendent at LPS, said the …