Thirty Athletes. Thirty-five Buddies. Six Coaches. One Coordinator. This is the team that brought the heat to our 22nd location launch in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, March 24th at Life Time Tennis. Our Dallas launch was our biggest Buddy Up Tennis launch EVER!
After seeing Buddy Up Tennis featured at the US Open in 2018, lifelong tennis player, and now Dallas Coordinator, Cheryl Halpern knew that she wanted to bring the program to Dallas! She and Phillippa Nierling, a member of the USTA Texas Adaptive Tennis Committee, visited Columbus in January to witness the magic of a Buddy Up Tennis Clinic. Cheryl then utilized Facebook, personal emails, fliers at tennis facilities, and word-of-mouth to recruit more than 60 Buddies and raise more than $5,000 to support the launch. She partnered with the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas to offer the program to their members and individuals with Down syndrome all over Dallas.
Cheryl’s determination and hard work paid off, as the location launch exceeded all expectations. Each Life Time Tennis Coach partnered with one of the four Columbus Travel Team Coaches to bring three Star Levels to the Athletes, who ranged in ages from five to 41. The Athlete-Buddy duos stepped foot on the courts ready to learn, improve, and most importantly, have fun!
Cheryl’s determination and hard work paid off, as the location launch exceeded all expectations. Each Life Time Tennis Coach partnered with one of the four Columbus Travel Team Coaches to bring three Star Levels to the Athletes, who ranged in ages from five to 41. The Athlete-Buddy duos stepped foot on the courts ready to learn, improve, and most importantly, have fun!
Coach Kyle from the Columbus Travel Team recounts the hour-and-a-half clinic: “It was amazing to see such a large group of people coming together for the launch of a Buddy Up Tennis location, “ he said. “There was an electric buzz amongst the Buddies, and each Athlete shared pure joy and energy with us during their first ever tennis clinic!”
We are so grateful to our partners at Life Time Tennis and the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas for welcoming us into your community! We look enthusiastically forward to many more exciting Sunday afternoons on the courts to come!
Check out how much fun we had on the courts in Dallas: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmBXLET8?fbclid=IwAR0T0dAy8YiRLbJ5J6j7RhH883ASFJJklr4PZnD-Q2C_4KiCrA5Prn09Snw
If you’d like to make a donation to support Buddy Up Tennis Dallas, please visit https://launch.buddyuptennis.com/dallas/. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated!