Growing the Game in Buffalo

There are two things to know about Buffalo, N.Y.’s Kathy Connelly. 

One is that she is a bonafide tennis aficionado. She picked up a racquet when she was around eight years old, and she still hasn’t put it down. She’s played her whole life: in high school, at Williams College in Massachusetts and on USTA League teams. 

“I started out in a rec program near my house here in Buffalo, and I just loved everything about it,” she recalls. “I loved the feel of hitting the ball, the exercise, the friendships that I made. I think it's a beautiful sport, and it's also a sport that offers enjoyment for people no matter your skill level. It's always been, as I say, something that's been my joy.”

She has also worked to help others discover that joy, even as she maintained a day job supporting her husband’s dental office. For many years she coached junior team tennis as well as the girls team at Buffalo Seminary High School and both men’s and women’s teams at Medaille College. In 2022, after selling the dental practice and opting to retire, Connelly was looking for something more to do and accepted a position teaching at Village Glen Tennis & Pickleball.

“Partnering the Village Glen with ACEing Autism made all this happen,” she says.

ACEing Autism was founded in 2008 and today boasts 180 school and community programs across 30 different states—including 20 in New York and New Jersey. To get Kathy operational at the Village Glen, organization leaders set her up with an online registration system, equipment, in-person training sessions and a curriculum tailor-made for kids with special needs. When the program officially launched in February 2023, ACEing Autism’s Director of Program Operations Justin Belisario—based in California—braved the frigid western New York temperatures to help Kathy kick everything off.

“We have a visual schedule,” she explains. “We do a warm-up, some hand-eye coordination, racquet skills, a stroke of the day, a game and a cheer. The children have a predictable, comfortable routine, and I think that really leads to success.”

And there have been many successes.

“We have one participant who volunteers as a coach in the first hour, then changes out of his volunteer t-shirt like Superman and then becomes an athlete in the second hour,” she says. “Seeing that growth in his confidence now that he’s a coach is wonderful. And I have to credit my volunteers, because they came up with the idea. ‘Hey, what do you think about so-and-so, do you think he could help with the younger kids?’ The volunteers take things to heart, and that helps us get better every time.”

Given all the success, Kathy has now created a similar program at Village Glen’s sister club, the South Towns Tennis Club. She also runs an afterschool version at South Towns for students with disabilities, and over the next few years, she hopes to continue to expand and get even more players out on the court for each session. (She’s already increased the age limit to 21 to welcome back a few participants who had aged out.) 

All her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Kathy received USTA Eastern’s Western Region Volunteer of the Year distinction this past January, while the Village Glen operation was named ACEing Autism’s Program of the Year for 2024. The criteria for that particular award is partially based on parent satisfaction surveys, so Kathy again credits her stable of volunteers for the accolade.

Of course, for Kathy, this is all icing on top of the cake. The most rewarding part is seeing the ultimate goal of ACEing Autism come to fruition each weekend: kids on court smiling and having fun.

“It is definitely exhilarating and satisfying and rewarding,” she says. “Seeing the athletes beginning to master the skill of volleying or a ground stroke, just seeing their tennis skills develop and receive praise and a lot of cheering. I've seen self-confidence where the athletes speak directly to us in an interpersonal conversation. It's just been a very overwhelming experience for me and a blessing.”

USTA Eastern is proud to support Kathy's program through the Growing Tennis Together grant and the Diversity & Inclusion grant. Learn more about USTA Eastern grants.

Get involved! Learn more about ACEing Autism.