As a tennis professional, the greatest challenge that Karl Sommers faces on the court is not the likes of Pete Sampras or Michael Chang. Instead, it is maintaining the attention and focus of the students who seek his instruction.

That's why Sommers, 35, constantly invents novel ways to keep his tennis protégés, especially children, interested in his sport. It is this creativeness and his ability to reach youth that allowed the instructor at Sportime, formerly Syosset Tennis Academy, to stand out as the winner in a field of nominees eligible to receive the USTA Long Island Region's U.S. Professional Tennis Association's Pro of the Year Award on Friday, Nov. 13.

Sommers accepted his award at the East Coast Athletic Club in Port Washington, which hosted, in conjunction with the awards, a variety of tennis-related activities meant to promote the sport - which was the original purpose of launching these first annual awards.

Rick Elstein, ownership partner of Sportime, said of Sommers, "He's able to take 20 kids on the court at once, and make every kid feel loved equally, and special," said Elstein. "He has an amazing talent and gift."

"His innate gift is to connect with small children...The kids have to see you as something other than just another adult, but yet respect you as a coach."

Sommers explains just how he does that. "I like to come up with really creative ways of teaching," he said. "The sky's the limit when you use creativity. Kids need variety all the time...Their attention span is only so much."

So to get their interest Sommers will perform a little prestidigitation, juggle and ¬ perhaps his greatest talent ¬ sneeze like Donald Duck.

Another unique technique Sommers uses is Stroke on a Rope ¬ a simple invention that students use to find their racquet's sweet spot. Sommers also invented the Trophy Ball, a colorful handmade prize that his younger students strive to earn through good play. "If they make 10 serves in a row, or a certain amount of strokes, or any kind of achievement, from time to time they'll get a Trophy Ball," said Sommers. The secret to the assembly process of this popular prize remains undisclosed.

Some of Sommers' young students have qualified for major competitions. Two were finalists in recent Hamlet Junior Cup competitions. Yet despite all of his success with youngsters, Elstein said that it's important not to label him as just a children's coach. "He's very good [with] people of all levels of skill", said Elstein, who has known his employee since Sommers began working at Sportime almost 13 years ago as a camp counselor.

In addition to teaching tennis, Sommers also instructs young children in Sportime's multi-sport program. He estimates he has spent over 30,000 hours teaching both children and adults.

Sommers probably owes his teaching success as much to genetics as anything else, having an ancestry rich in education and athletics. His mother is a junior high school teacher in Mineola, where Sommers, now a Centerport resident, was raised. Most of his five younger siblings are either established in, or are pursuing, careers in education, including his sister Carol, who works in Syosset's South Woods Middle School.

Sommers said that his father was also "a good teacher in raising six kids," but that he was also quite the sportsman. He was, according to Sommers, "king of the handball courts." His grandfather, Rudolph Sommers of Manheim, Germany, participated in the Olympic decathlon shortly before immigrating to America in 1927. Though he didn't medal, "just getting that far is pretty cool," said Sommers.

In addition to tennis, Sommers also was a diver and a gymnast as a young student. As the latter, a 19-year-old Sommers was hired in 1982 for a job that would be most boys' fantasy. He was a ball boy for the New York Mets, but had a very unusual gimmick. Sommers would perform acrobatic routines between innings, and would often be the major highlight in an era when the Mets were cellar-dwellers. "I'm always finding myself in bizarre and crazy situations," remarked Sommers, whose most famous trick was leaping and somersaulting over umpires.

However, one thing that was not bizarre, but rather quite justified, was the USTA's decision to honor him.

"I work very hard and very long hours, and there are many pros out there who never get mentioned, and that's why I would call this award a big honor," said Sommers.