On Saturday, September 14, 2019, a group of enthusiastic kids, parents, and adults came out to the Highland Park Tennis Courts for the first ever “Tennis Fun Day.” Tennis Fun Day is a city-wide tennis outreach and community service event organized by a group of junior tennis players, with a little help from their parents. Its goal is to promote an interest in and grow the sport of tennis, and to encourage young kids to be more physically active and healthier. The USTA – AMD Council sponsored the event.
The junior tennis player volunteers collected nearly a hundred donated tennis racquets that were restrung by volunteers at the Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center and refreshed with new overgrips donated by Gamma. The USTA and generously provided additional, brand new children’s racquets, red balls, and Net Generation prizes for the kids. Children went home with a tennis racquet, a red ball, and a tennis prize!
High school and middle school volunteers organized the set up and ran the on-court drills and games. Indiana High School Boys Tennis Coach Phil Palko gave the adults an unexpected surprise with three hours of high level tennis instruction.
A hearty thank you to the above-mentioned entities and individuals. A special thanks to my co-organizers, Stephanie Le and Chrissy Gargani, and to Harrison Chui for assembling the zany high school tennis players who participated with enthusiasm and positivity, who were wonderful with the kids. Thanks to all of the volunteers, and all who showed up, for making the day a huge success.
Thanks also to the Highland Park Tennis Club for allowing us to use their wonderful courts, and to the HPTC folks who came out to participate, chat, and give encouragement, especially Dana Squelch-Costa. Thanks also to Jose Mieres, the City of Pittsburgh’s Director of Tennis. Look for the next Tennis Fun Day to be held in the Spring, 2020.
