NCHS students inspire children at Grassroots Tennis and Education

Story by Caroline Cioffi, Editor-in-Chief
@cciofficourant

Video by Katie Jahns, Executive Editor
@kmjahns

Eight-year-old Emily sits at the top of a flight of wooden steps. Having just arrived from school, Emily is writing in her fluffy purple notebook. When asked what she is writing about, she responds that she is writing about tennis and her dream of becoming a professional tennis player when she is older. The steps Emily is sitting on lead up to a white building that is home to a program called Grassroots Tennis and Education. Located in Norwalk, Connecticut, Grassroots serves over 250 elementary- through high school-aged children like Emily.

Grassroots was founded in 1995 with the goal of “ensuring each of our kids is on a path towards success on the court, in the classroom, and in life,” according to the Grassroots website. Last year, all nine of the high school seniors involved in Grassroots graduated from high school and many are now pursuing a college education.

Daniel Pearson, the Director of Operations, came to Grassroots over a year ago in hopes of being able to personally work with the children and directly impact them. “The biggest impact that we have is creating a safe environment,” Daniel said. “We help with homework and do social and emotional learning activities, but the most important thing is that the children feel safe and secure to be themselves here at Grassroots.”

After eating a snack and completing their homework, the children take vans to various clubs in the area where they have the chance to practice tennis. David Kimani, the Senior Director of Tennis at Grassroots, has been coaching tennis at Grassroots since 2000. “Tennis is a difficult sport to learn,” David said. “When you lose, you come back the next day and work hard to improve. This shows the determination, courage, and grit of following through and wanting to succeed. And that translates to all other things in life.”

In addition to perseverance, David suggests that the children at Grassroots learn from the nature of the sport of tennis. “The best part of tennis is the etiquette that comes with it,” David said. “It’s not a sport of obliterating your opponent. You get there, you play your match, you do your best, and at the end of the match you meet your opponent at the net, you shake hands, and you look at the other player and say ‘good job.’”

Caroline Mayock, a senior and Varsity tennis captain at NCHS, has volunteered at Grassroots since the beginning of her freshman year. “I’ve always played competitive tennis and I wanted to be able to contribute some of those tennis skills to give back to kids who are less fortunate,” Caroline said. “At Grassroots, I’ve taught kids tennis, I’ve tutored many students for the SAT and other subjects, and I’ve helped coordinate fundraisers.”

In addition to the many lessons that Caroline has been able to teach the kids at Grassroots, she has also learned from them. “I’ve learned to be patient with the kids,” Caroline said. “I’ve learned to be accepting and loving and to embrace new situations. Overall, Grassroots has had a really positive influence on me.”

Caroline’s favorite part of volunteering at Grassroots is the relationships that she has formed with the children. “As you continue to come back, you formulate amazing relationships,” Caroline said. “It’s amazing to see the kids becoming more confident with themselves as they develop their skills.”

Daniel also emphasized the value of the relationships that children form during their time at Grassroots. “We had a couple of high school volunteers who formed a relationship with some of our high school kids,” Daniel said. “When they went on to college, they continued to remain friends and they still play tennis together once or twice a week. Grassroots is all about relationship building and I encourage anyone, no matter what age, to come on in and see that for themselves.”