Omaha Women's Tennis Team Wins City of Omaha Parks Award

The University of Nebraska-Omaha women’s tennis team was recently awarded the School Volunteer Group of the Year from the Omaha Parks and Recreation department. The Mavericks received this award for doing beautification projects around the community including picking up trash, raking leaves, mulching, trimming trees and painting tennis backboards at local parks. 

Coaches and players say it’s important to give back to the community.

“We feel connected with our community and we wanted a way to give back,” said head coach Adam Summitt. “The Parks and Rec department are supporters of tennis and we felt it was the right organization to partner with, especially since most of the parks have tennis courts.”

Freshman Colby Kelley came to Omaha from Liberty, Mo. to play for the Mavericks. She said Omaha is her new home and she feels it’s important to give back to the community you live in.

“It’s important to give back because of how much the community provides for you,” said Kelley. “I don’t think a lot of people think about how important the sense of a happy, united community really is.  There are so many jobs that can be done within the community and so many ways that we can continue to make it better.”

She added that it’s rewarding to know the team did its part to improve various parts of the community, and every little bit makes a difference. 

“Even though our jobs might seem small at the time, when we are done with those jobs we see how much brighter and cleaner we have made those parts of the community.  It’s very rewarding knowing that we are helping make Omaha better with each job that we do.”

Coach Summitt said the team is doing well, despite some injuries, but everyone is glad to be playing this season. For more on the team, click here.