Tennis for Fun was launched at the Y in May 2023 for special needs players of all ages. Charleston Family YMCA President and CEO Sarah Bolyard extols the program, introduced to her by a major proponent, Sandy Campbell of Charleston.
"She was involved with the Tennis for Fun program in Florida and wanted to see if we were interested in doing something up here," Bolyard explained. "We immediately said yes, because it fits right in with our mission of providing programming for all, regardless of ability level."
Currently, Campbell is "snowbirding" in Longboat Key, Fla., with husband David, who is also involved foursquare in the Tennis for Fun program there and in Charleston.
The Campbells joined Tennis for Fun Florida in Sarasota last year. "Judy Moore started it 22 years ago there; at first, it was something her son did as a high school project. He went on to college, but she continued it and is still working with some of the same athletes 22 years later," said Sandy.
Mutually passionate about the program, Sandy and David recruited several of their Charleston tennis community cohorts to bring it to the Kanawha Valley. "It was mostly people Sandy and I had played tennis with for several years and other people we knew who found a place in their hearts to do this," David said.
"The Charleston Tennis Club gave us tons of racquets, so everybody gets a racquet and, usually, a tennis bag, and we give them a T-shirt," Sandy said.
Tennis for Fun athletes also receive recognition for their efforts. "One of our first athletes, Harley Hill, who has Down syndrome and is 31 or 32, told us he had never had a trophy before and had always wanted one," Sandy said. "We found some leftover trophies the Y had, took them, had nameplates done, and had an awards ceremony. Harley's sister told me he didn't put his trophy down for a week. That was huge for him."
Volunteer coaches also vote on a recipient of an award recognizing an athlete who is most involved and benefits greatly from the program, David said. "We decided to name the award after two of our volunteers, George and Debbie Bsharah, who had a son with special needs who passed away."
Joey Williamson received the first Christopher Bsharah Ambassador of Kindness Award. "The Y is so committed that they've placed a plaque in the lobby with the names going up on it every year," David noted.
"The Charleston Y has been an absolute godsend," he added. "We were not sure how to get this implemented in West Virginia, but the Y couldn't have welcomed us any more openly. It's unbelievable."
Bolyard said the Tennis for Fun program has grown consistently. "The athletes here today are the same ones who were here on the first day. It's just been a great program for them, not just from a social, emotional and learning perspective, but also from a volunteer perspective. It's been phenomenal to make those relationships and form those bonds. As a leader at the Y, it's been my favorite thing we've done," she said.
Bolyard has "skin in the game" herself as a Tennis for Fun volunteer, witnessing dividends on and off the court. One youngster was extremely angry when he joined the program, she said. "He didn't want to play. He didn't want to be here. I took him on, and he has progressed so much. To see the glimmers of normal and typical behaviors in a child with autism when they're out on the court doing something they've probably never tried before is so overwhelming for you as a volunteer, because you know that they're enjoying it. It's a little thing like the difference between using a foam ball and a real ball and feeling the vibration, because he responds to vibration. That's one of his coping mechanisms and soothing techniques. A light goes off and he's suddenly 'there.' That's probably the coolest thing ever."
Along with forging community bonds, Bolyard said, the program has enabled the Y to hire some of the Tennis for Fun athletes. "That's probably been the best thing," she said, "because they teach all of our staff their core values. They teach us patience and respect. We've gotten so much more out of the program than they probably know of. It's been a blessing."
Tennis For Fun is affiliated with Special Olympics of West Virginia. "All of the athletes who participate have to sign off on a Special Olympics waiver. We hope there's going to be a tennis competition for them this summer with Special Olympics," Bolyard said, adding that the Charleston Y's program is the only one active in West Virginia.
With the program's growth, volunteers are in demand, Bolyard noted. "Ideally, we'd pair up a volunteer with an adult; there's a lot of one-on-one," she explained. "Volunteers don't need to know how to play tennis. We really just need people here who want to help and want to be a part of something bigger than just a tennis ball and a racquet."
A tennis player since age 13, Rory Isaac volunteered for Tennis for Fun at the Campbells' behest, albeit with some initial skepticism. "I didn't think it would work, at first, to be honest," the Charleston retiree stated. "But when you come out here and experience how wonderful these kids and adults with special needs are and how much it means to them, how unconditionally they give back to you, it touches you in a way that's hard to describe. We get way more from it than they do.
"I'm so blessed in my life and have been given so much. They haven't been given as much in life as I've been given, but their outlook and joy in life is still so palpable.
"Sandy told me that when she came to my wife, Kim, and me about the program. She gets emotional about it -- like me, she's Lebanese -- and she's passionate about it, as I am when I get into something like this," Isaac said.
Isaac works with three or four athletes regularly each week, including 18-year-old Aidan Daugherty of Charleston, who Isaac knew from church. "Aidan and I have a very special bond, so it's really hard for me to work with anybody else when he's here."
Through his Tennis for Fun involvement, Aidan has become one of the Y's part-time hires as well as a player for nearly a year, his father, Tom Daugherty said.
"Aidan really likes it," Tom said. "He's a pretty active kid. He likes to play basketball and at home, we play badminton sometimes to work on motor skills. But Tennis for Fun has really been a godsend for us. He really enjoys it. It's a great way to socialize."
He added that along with the volunteer coaches, the Tennis for Fun athletes receive visits on Wednesdays from members of University of Charleston tennis team and the George Washington High School girls and boys tennis teams. "So, it's a community involvement thing, too," Tom said.
And Isaac's early qualms about Tennis for Fun's success have been utterly quashed. "It works, because we've got such great volunteers," he said. "My wife and I and George and Debbie Bsharah are volunteers here. I don't know how to describe it except to say it brings incredible joy to you and it humbles you. It makes you realize just how unbelievably blessed we are, and it makes you not quite take so much for granted that you take for granted in your everyday life. You give two hours of your life a week to these kids and young adults. The joy they get from just hitting the ball -- it doesn't matter if it just goes up into the ceiling -- it's just amazing."
"People may tell us they're not a very good tennis player, but we tell them it's more about love than it is about tennis," David added. "We'll find a place to work you in. For special needs athletes, they're number one. Tennis for Fun is all about them. The key takeaway is that they're on a pedestal for an hour every week."
For more information, call 304-340-3527 or go to ymcaofkv.org or the "Tennis for Fun WV" Facebook page.
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