RALLY FOR TENNIS AND TEAMFAME UNITE TO SUPPORT YOUTH PROGRAMMING
For the second year, Rally for Tennis and the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) chapter TeamFAME came together for an afternoon of tennis, community and fundraising at Brown University.
Rally for Tennis (RFT) was founded by three Massachusetts student-athletes – Alek Karagozyan, Tait Oberg and Cole Oberg – and works to raise funds and provide mentorship for community tennis programs around New England. This year, RFT raised over $23,000 to support TeamFAME’s youth development programming, which combines tennis, academic support, and enrichment opportunities for under-resourced youth in the Newport area.
“TeamFAME is a wonderful organization; an NJTL that leverages the strengths of the International Tennis Hall of Fame is phenomenal,” said Karagozyan. “There are a lot of under-resourced kids in the Newport area surrounding the Hall of Fame that I think doesn't nearly get enough coverage, and I really appreciate how the TeamFAME organization helps them out, provides them not only tennis, but also after-school programs and other extracurriculars that allow these kids to build themselves up, build their character, and help set them on the right path.”
RFT’s mission mobilizes and empowers junior tennis players to work together to help their community. Each RFT event is organized and run by local junior tennis players, partnering with a local non-profit, to raise money to support community tennis programs that benefit under-resourced youth. Since its inception in 2021, RFT has raised over $500,000 to support over 10,000 young players.
Over 40 TeamFAME student-athletes traveled to Providence to participate in Sunday’s RFT activation in partnership with Brown University’s varsity men’s tennis and club tennis programs. Following a pizza lunch, the kids and coaches took the courts together for tennis games, drills, raffles and the opportunity to build relationships.
“We’re really excited to be here in Providence for this event, bringing together RFT, the Brown tennis teams and our TeamFAME students,” said Marguerite Marano, Executive Director of TeamFAME.
“This is what TeamFAME is all about, community service and making sure that we're giving back in many ways. It’s just amazing to get everyone together and get out on the courts in a positive way, we're so grateful to Alek, Tanner and their peers are giving back in this way to kids in Newport.”
