Tennis Without Borders extends tennis to Guatemala, Philippines
When North Carolina resident Kelly Gunterman founded Tennis Without Borders (TWB) in 2009 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the mission was clear and simple: Provide instruction, program development and resources like equipment and school supplies to needy programs, particularly in underserved communities worldwide.
At the time, he didn't know how many people shared his passion and desire to help children pursue life opportunities on and off the tennis court and offer them a path to overcome challenges through tennis and education.
TWB board member and volunteer Lucinda Holbach is one of the many who share Gunterman's passion to cross borders as ambassadors of tennis. Holbach lived in North Carolina for almost 20 years, played two years of junior tennis in the South and competed as a student-athlete UNC-Chapel Hill from 1989-1993. She may currently reside in Las Vegas, Nev., and part of the year and Moultonborough, N.H., but her heart is in North Carolina.
Tennis Without Borders Board Member Lucinda Holbach shares Red Ball curriculum in Guatemala.
When not overseas, the work stateside includes collections, fundraising and organizing.
“A big part of our work is with kids (we helped over 50 in the last decade) who learned the importance of giving back,” explained Holbach. “We collected shoes, racquets, clothes for each project from their local clubs and communities.”
Here are two TWB volunteers from USTA Southern.
Joel Tapper, a tennis player from Durham, N.C., has been a hawk in collecting hundreds of racquets for ten years. At his local club, Hollow Rock Racquet & Swim Club, he was able to collect 20 racquets and six pairs of lightly worn tennis shoes.
Alex Ching, of Chapel Hill, N.C., has been collecting shoes, racquets, apparel and school supplies for a decade. She just completed her first trip to the Philippines. There, she worked with Voice of the Free to use tennis as a therapy for girls under threat of human trafficking. Tennis Without Borders has now aided more than 50 girls.
TWB also launched another trip to Guatemala earlier this spring. Volunteers, including Holbach, along with an interpreter, visited four locations in Guatemala, including a garbage dump where the goal is to build tennis courts offering red, orange and green ball curriculum.
Tennis Without Borders volunteers work with children in La Puerta Abierta, Guatemala.
The next stops included cities Antiqua and Santiago Atitlán, where Tennis Without Borders worked with local PE teachers and left them with racquets, balls, nets and backpacks, along with teaching guidelines. After a boat ride, the final stop was a return visit to San Marcos to follow up on progress and leave more equipment.
Trips abroad give Gunterman and other TWB representatives a unique platform to promote tennis opportunities within the USTA Southern’s nine states. Scholarships at colleges and universities, jobs in tennis as coaches and trainers and playing on the professional circuits are all presented. The trips are sometimes funded by third-party sponsors, while always collaborating with local clubs in the countries visited and the country's sports federations.
Efforts here in the U.S. are proving just as fruitful. Collection events at two tennis clubs and one school in the Chapel Hill, N.C., area have been critical to helping as many children as possible to play tennis in a fun environment while learning about different places around the world that TWB was helping. Tapper utilized the resources at Hollow Rock Racquet and Swim Club, Duke Faculty Club and Durham Academy as drop-off locations for tennis equipment, school supplies and backpacks.
Holbach said Tennis Without Borders is looking for more people to get involved and make tennis more available.
“It’s always nice to see people giving back to tennis and helping make tennis more accessible to those communities that otherwise may not have the opportunity to play.”
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