Advantage, kids

In tennis, how you play can matter as much as the score.

That’s one lesson Boston Police officer Frank G. Williams, Jr., 47, stresses as he teaches the game to the city’s most vulnerable youngsters.

What began as a one-man effort to keep youngsters off the streets last year has expanded into a joint venture between the Boston Police and the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club this summer in Dorchester.

On Friday and Saturday evenings — peak hours for juvenile crime and violence, Williams said — 25 police officers have been bringing in vanloads of children from the city’s housing developments to play tennis, bridge neighborhood divides, and build new relationships.

“All these kids are at risk of being involved in gang-related activity,’’ said Williams, who is on the board of directors of the Sportsmen’s Club. “They want to be part of something. Some of them don’t have the family unit others have.’’

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