Women's Tennis Team Helping Communities Locally and Abroad
3/9/2010 8:28:00 AM | Athletics
March 11, 2010 - Dartmouth Women's Tennis Team Helping Communities Locally and Abroad
By Jeff Friedman, Jaeger Civic Intern
Once each month, the Dartmouth women's tennis team
teaches tennis for an hour and a half to kids from The Upper Valley
Haven. The Haven has existed for 28 years and it provides shelter,
food, and overall support for homeless families. It has been a savior
for many families and helped reduce poverty in the surrounding Upper
Valley area. One Friday per month, the kids from the Haven are bused
over to the Boss Tennis Center where they hit with the women on the
tennis team and are taught the fundamental skills of tennis. By
interacting with the community on a consistent basis, the women's
tennis team has tried to bring happiness to many of these unprivileged
children's lives. Julia Zak, co-captain of the women's tennis team,
said “they range in age from middle school to high school. They're
really fun and excited about getting to run around, play tennis and
hang out with us.” Jesse Adler, the other co-captain of the women's
team, echoed Zak's sentiments and noted how the women love teaching the
younger kids the game of tennis. Adler stated “We obviously all have a
deep love for the game of tennis so to be able to pass that on to
others is a really great experience for all of us.”
It appears
as if the women's tennis team has made their experience original as
they tried to think of ways to better work with the Haven in a
persistent manner. Adler recalls the history of their relationship with
the Haven when she said that “Our relationship with the Haven
originally started with us helping out at the actual shelter and doing
arts and crafts projects with the kids there. However, we thought that
it would be more beneficial for them if they could come and see a
little bit of what we do and exercise as well.” The women's team's
creative idea to invite the kids at the Haven to come to the Boss
Center and hit with them during their practice time shows their
commitment to community service. Senior Carley Markovitz also said how
successful their time with the Haven has been. She particularly said
that the Haven wants to get the kids even more involved with the
Dartmouth women's tennis team. Markovitz said “It's been extremely
successful with the intimate group of kids that we've worked with, and
the Haven coordinator has even suggested we start a weekly clinic with
the kids to make it a more regular event. It's great to hear that
feedback and to know they are all enjoying themselves so much in the
process.”
While the women's team is very involved in the
surrounding Upper Valley community, they also have helped on a global
scale as well. A few weeks ago, the Dartmouth women competed in the
annual ECAC Championships, which includes all of the Ivy League teams
in the northeast and any other top northeast tennis schools. Before the
tournament, Jesse Adler and Julia Zak emailed the captains of each of
the women's teams entered in the tournament and asked them to try and
gather as much food/clothing/supplies possible and the Dartmouth women
would then send it to Haiti through Partners in Health as a response to
the Haiti Earthquake. Not only did the Dartmouth women leave with a
runner-up trophy, but they also had gathered over 100 pounds of food,
clothing, and other supplies from the tennis teams in the Ivy League.
The women's tennis team's commitment to service and helping people both
locally and abroad is truly amazing.
