As a lifelong tennis player, I realized in 2016 that our sport was incredibly wasteful and was unable to find a place to recycle my used tennis balls. In tennis, you open a can of balls, play with them for an hour and a half, and then you toss them out. I did a little research and was stunned by what I discovered. I realized that there’s got to be something we could do about it,” he said. In 2016, along with my son Ryan, we founded RecycleBalls, a nonprofit that makes it easy for tennis clubs and fitness centers around the country to recycle their used balls.
With the passion of players nationwide, we built a nationwide network of partner facilities in nearly every state. In just a few years, the program has been so successful that Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of tennis equipment, signed on as the program’s lead sponsor.
We’re not your typical non-profit. We’re applying best practices from manufacturing and distribution to achieve our goals quickly and efficiently. The shared nature of our mission has inspired people of every age to get involved. A growing network of over 4000 US partners and individuals are spearheading a first of its kind positive change for tennis.
- Members receive discounts on reused tennis balls, access to a virtual sustainability course eligible for recertification credits and involvement in sustainability education initiatives.