NA Tennis Team Members Facilitate Charity Tennis Event

By Nina Shirey, Sports Information Director

Last summer, four Newark Academy varsity tennis players — Ayanna Varma ’25, Andrew Kotzen ’24, Josh Mandelbaum ’24 and Ethan Polen ’23 —helped organize and run a Rally for Tennis charity event at the West Orange Tennis Club. The event was held in support of Greater Newark Tennis & Education (GNTE), which provides tennis instruction and educational opportu- nities to underprivileged children in the Newark area. Combined with a parallel New England fundraiser, Rally for Tennis raised a total of $69,779 to support access to free tennis clinics, equipment and instruction from GNTE for children from under-resourced communities.

Rally For Tennis was launched in 2021 with events featuring tennis clinics, high-level exhibition play featuring top nationally ranked players, raffle prizes and an online silent auction. This year was the first time that the event was held in New Jersey. In preparation, Ayanna, Andrew, Josh and Ethan worked tirelessly to obtain sponsors, raise funds and secure donations for the silent auction and raffle.

“The Rally for Tennis event was a huge success and extremely fun to prepare and run,” says Ethan. “We started to have calls with the Rally for Tennis New England team to learn about the program and determine the best way to run a successful event. By mid-summer, we started contacting sponsors and corresponding with the United States Tennis Association for silent auction items.”

“I have been passionate about tennis for most of my life,” says Ayanna. “Not only has tennis been the gateway to learning important life skills like a strong work ethic, a growth mindset and perseverance, but it has been a ton of fun. Rally for Tennis was a great way for me to share the sport that I love with hundreds of kids. Our New Jersey event raised over $49,000 for Greater Newark Tennis and Education, which was a game-changer in their mission to provide underprivileged kids in the Newark area with educational opportunities and tennis training. The team was humbled to meet some of the kids from the organization and help them improve their game. I think Rally for Tennis was an inspiring, positive, and worthwhile experience for us all.”

Ncaa Bound

Four Newark Academy seniors intend to compete in collegelevel athletics next year. See more photos from their signing days on social media @NA_Minutemen.

Jonathan Eichler

Kenyon College for baseball

Deon Mingo Jr.

Rutgers University-Newark campus for basketball

Torata Mishima

Boston College for fencing

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East Stroudsburg University for swimming

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