Carefree Saniseng blossoms as Van Buren’s No. 1 singles player

T.J. Saniseng likes the idea of playing singles. The former Van Buren doubles player is just as eager to give back. “Coach ‘B’ (Van Buren coach Brandy Mosby) has gotten me into a lot of volunteering work,” he said. “I’ve started teaching kids in kindergarten through the fourth grade at the Alma Boys & Girls Club. I love giving back.” The kids seem to love him, too. “Whenever I come out and play, I have kids asking how I did,” Saniseng said. ”(Tuesday), I had four of them come out to watch me. It made me feel like I was actually doing something with my life.” With help from his dad, Saniseng began learning to hit tennis balls when he was 3. A dozen plus years later, he’s Van Buren’s No. 1 singles player. “The younger kids love him, and they want to hang all over him like he is a jungle gym,” Mosby said. ” He loves being around them, and I absolutely love getting to sit back and watch all of this. “The joy it brings me to know that I get to be a part of a program that when I played, no one hardly knew we even had a team.” As a youngster, Saniseng participated in Dee Cox’s popular summer camps. Now, he’s giving back. “TJ is teaching in those same camps, and those camp/clinic kids are coming to watch him play,” Mosby said. “The kids TJ used to come watch play and are now in college are showing up at matches, like one of them did the other night against Northside, to come see how the team did. The family (Pointers) just keeps growing, and as a coach — it just doesn’t get any better than that.” Quick learner Saniseng’s dad, Tony, relocated to the United States when he was 11 from Laos. A 1987 Van Buren High School grad, Tony Saniseng is an American success story, earning degrees from Westark (1993) and UAFS (2006). He’s an engineer at Baldor. And a good tennis player. “He’s a self-taught tennis player,” T.J. Saniseng said. “Whenever I was really young my dad would take me to hit around, and I started to really love it.” T.J. Saniseng says he smitten by the tennis bug as a fourth grader. MORE

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

CAREFREE SANISENG BLOSSOMS AS VAN BUREN’S NO. 1 SINGLES PLAYER

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 8/31/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford