Tennis teaches valuable life lessons such as perseverance, resilience, self- discipline, goal-setting, time management, and teamwork. It is a lifelong sport that relieves stress and contributes to personal growth both on and off the court. Programs like Danbury Grassroots Academy bring families and individuals from diverse backgrounds together to interact with peers, coaches, and volunteers. This creates a supportive network where they feel valued and connected.
Our Director of Tennis, Matt Berger, is a school psychologist who has extensive USTA experience. Our students receive extra practice by participating in USTA tournaments and friendly matches with local tennis programs. Tennis instruction daily: drills, practice matches, in house singles/doubles tournaments, skill-based drills, team-building, and fitness culminating in our annual 5K/1Mile race.
Project Timeline
Tennis is run by our Director of Tennis, our Director of Student Affairs, 4 paid interns, and volunteers. Each Danbury Grassroots Academy participant plays 3 hours a day. Additionally, each participant spends 3 hours a day in our office for academics and enrichment, administered by our Executive Director, Director of Education, and volunteers.
Our summer tennis program is divided into three groups: Future Stars (elementary school), Jr. Champs (middle school), and Tournament Training (high school)
- Tennis sneakers and uniforms are purchased for each student in May
- Daily lesson plans, drills, practice matches, technique, fundamentals, strategy, red and orange dot balls
- In-house singles and doubles tournament: 6 total
- Friendly matches: Norwalk Grassroots and other local tennis programs
- USTA Tournaments: our Director of Tennis assists with signing kids up to compete
- Daily physical fitness training: conditioning every student to run in our 5k/1-mile race in August
- Two day intensive Boot Camp for the Tournament Training group: focus on exercises, endurance, team work, and tennis
