By Peter Dopkin
Photos Courtesy of Jared Glick

Nestled in the heart of Massachusetts is the town of Holden. The population is under 20,000, but one soon-to-be high school senior with Ivy League aspirations is making a mark on the New England tennis community. Jared Glick has played tennis since age 4, but when he was sidelined last autumn, he didn’t just sit idly by. 

With the help of friends from his local tennis and swim clubs, Glick has developed an extracurricular activity that the college admission boards are sure to love. Jared had seen “round up” programs from around the country that gather tennis racquets for kids and adults that are unable to afford them. The 17-year-old simply wanted to give back to the game that had already given so much to him. 

“I wanted to help bring the opportunity [to play tennis] to others who are less fortunate than I am,” Jared says in an e-mail message. “I began Racquet Roundup New England, and started to collect racquets from players, clubs, and manufacturers.”

For Glick, his initial goal with RRNE was to collect 50 racquets. With tremendous support from companies like Prince, who donated 50 racquets, as well as racquet companies Völkl, Wilson, Yonex, Babolat, and Tecnifibre, and tennis suppliers Harrow Sports and Tennis Warehouse—plus caring individuals and tennis shops—as of June 1, Jared has collected roughly 300 racquets.

“Völkl is pleased to be a play a role in developing future tennis players,” says Sarah Maynard, National Products and Promotions Manager for Völkl. “Introducing people to the game of tennis is one of the most important elements of our job, and we are glad to contribute to programs whose primary focus is to motivate more people to play this great sport."

Glick gathers the racquets and distributes them to USTA New England, as well as Tenacity Tennis, a community outreach program for thousands of Boston’s inner city kids.  

New England is not the only region that has benefited from the Glick’s efforts.  RRNE has sent racquets to the Pro Tennis Registry in Hilton Head, S.C., and they ship the racquets all over the country.

“The program is a way for everyone to get involved and help give back to the game of tennis.  A lot of us have at least one racquet lying around, it’s just a matter of telling people, ‘Hey there’s something you can do with those racquets,’ and usually they can’t wait to help out,” says Glick.

What started as a way to stay active while sidelined has turned into so much more.

If you would like to donate, or learn more about the program please email racquetroundupne@hotmail.com.