Midwest

Sammy Maxwell on making tennis accessible at Danville schools

Molly Kinnick | March 31, 2026

Throughout March, USTA has celebrated women who are making a difference through sport. Sammy Maxwell is one of them, a fifth-grade teacher and head tennis coach in Danville, Ind. who sees a clear vision: tennis as a means of growth and inspiration for her students and the community that supports them. 

 

For Sammy Maxwell, tennis is a fun way to stay active, but she also knows it benefits her students. So when she went looking for tennis resources she was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of them—thanks to the United States Tennis Association website.

"Like the free tennis equipment for schools, the trainings," listed Maxwell, who felt slightly overwhelmed her first summer taking over as head coach for both the boys' and girls' tennis programs at Danville Community High School. "It was just so much work... And it was so much to plan. When I spoke with [Allison Davis with USTA Central Indiana] and I said, 'I would really love to get more support with our camps...' It was just like, oh my gosh! I feel like I barely did anything."

 

🔗 Discover USTA resources and support for schools.

 

Two programs made an early impact. Swing, Hit & Ace provided immediate curriculum for Danville summer camps, taking away the administrative work and giving Maxwell more time to focus on the joy of teaching tennis. "I'm really excited to bring Swing, Hit & Ace back because we got so many positive reviews from families." The other program was Junior Team Tennis (JTT), which offered players a chance to compete on teams during the offseason, picking up new tricks and making friends.

With the added attention, tennis really began to thrive, and Maxwell wanted access for more students. She knew tennis wasn't the sport of choice for many students—with low awareness and limited court availability. So she rallied her peers.

"We had a really small coaching staff, but we were all on the same page of like, we could have a great program if we have a feeder," said Maxwell. "It did take a couple of years of us just showing our admin. how much we cared and how much we wanted the program, but we had a lot of people on our side." 


And so... the program expanded.

"We used to have six courts. Finally got us 12. Out in the field like we wanted. We finally have that middle school program coming in."


The middle school program has been instrumental in allowing students the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of tennis in a supportive environment, where beginners can grow comfortable on the court and develop a sense of belonging long before competition becomes the focus. 

For Maxwell, tennis has always meant more than wins and losses.

As both a teacher and a tennis coach, she loves seeing her past students pick up a racquet. She gets to see the full arc of their growth—from shy fifth graders to confident high school athletes. Even after graduation, former players have stayed connected to the program, sometimes returning to mentor younger athletes.

Those lasting relationships reflect the culture Maxwell has built. As a female head coach for the girls' and boys' teams, she occupies a traditionally male-dominated space and demonstrates that leaders are defined not by gender but by impact. She also reminds us that growing tennis doesn’t have to start at elite levels. It starts with access and a commitment to others. 

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