BOSTON- The Boston Police weren’t taking an extra-long lunch break on a steamy May afternoon when 25 officers in full uniform spent an hour hanging out on the courts at Sportsmen’s Tennis Club.
The Boston Police Department and Sportsmen’s Tennis Club have teamed up in an effort to bring kids off of the streets and onto the courts.
Led by Boston police officer Frank Williams, who is on the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club Board, police officers hop behind the wheel of vans and shuttle inner-city youths from neighborhood police stations to Sportsmen’s on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, where the youths are treated to tennis lessons and pizza.
The program is part of Sportsmen’s Match Point Community Outreach Initiative and the club was awarded grant money from the Boston Foundation for funding.
"The Boston Police Department has been a great partner to us, and when they learned about the program, they jumped at the opportunity to take part," said Anne Greenbaum, Director of Institutional Advancement at Sportsmen’s. "The police department has really embraced it and we love it. It’s totally connected to our mission."
The 25 officers who were trained included individuals with various ranks and specialties within the department.
"The police showed up in full uniform, complete with guns on their hips, in the sweltering heat and got out and learned the basics through the QuickStart format," Greenbaum said. "They got to see how quickly a kid who has never played before can pick it up, and they had a blast learning."
Each Friday night and Saturday afternoon – times labeled "high-risk" for juveniles by the police department - six to eight officers and close to 100 kids take to the courts with members of the Sportsmen’s staff and volunteers to play tennis, all the while accomplishing something much greater.
"It’s a great outreach vehicle for the police," Greenbaum said. "They do a lot of work in building relationships and trust with kids from the neighborhoods, and to be in a safe and fun environment doing something they can enjoy together goes a long way in accomplishing that."
Greenbaum is hopeful that the program can continue when the summer comes to an end.
"We are searching for funding to keep this program going," said Greenbaum, adding her praise for the work put in by Sportsmen’s Executive Director Toni Wiley to get the program off of the ground. "It’s a program that benefits everyone involved on many levels."