A new organization is launching today to help remove financial barriers for young people who want to play tennis.
The Open Courts Foundation was founded by local tennis player Declan Walsh.
Declan Walsh with a tennis award won in 2021
He says the project really started back in 2023 when they saw children who live near the Greenbelt Tennis Club on Newtown Road who couldn’t access the facility because of the cost.
For three months of lessons once a week, Walsh says the price tag is about $200.
He says they started doing some fundraising and partnered with the nearby Rabbittown Community Centre. Through that initiative they were able to fully subsidize lessons for five kids.
Last March, Walsh decided to formalize the mission and that’s how the foundation was born.
Walsh began playing tennis in 2013, and he wants to make the game accessible for as many children as he can.
He says the love for the game he had when he started is still with him today, and he wants to share that with any young person who wants to play.
The foundation is being launched at the Mews Centre at 5:30.
