Tennis racket giveaway ‘was like Christmas morning’ for Murrysville family

Patrick Varine | Tuesday, September 29, 2020 10:49 a.m.

Courtesy of Aruna Nadesan

Instructors for nonprofit My Ground Strokes pose for a photo after giving rackets to the Maholic family of Murrysville Sept. 26 . At the top, Emma, Molly, Zoe, Lilah and Paul Maholic show their new rackets.

Ali Maholic of Murrysville wasn’t in a position to get her daughter, Zoe, started playing tennis, much less all five of her children.

So when a counselor from Heritage Elementary School called with a suggestion for a free activity the kids could try through My Ground Strokes, a program operating under nonprofit East Suburban Citizen Advocacy, she jumped at the chance.

My Ground Strokes (MGS) was started by Franklin Regional senior Anup Nadesan and fellow Panther tennis player and alum Joseph Bonfiglio, to provide tennis instruction for special-needs children. It is done in partnership with East Suburban Citizen Advocacy, which provides advocacy and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities

“When we went for the first time, a couple of the kids really took to it,” Maholic said. “They lit up and I haven’t seen them have that much fun in a long time.”

Nadesan regrouped as the coronavirus pandemic deepened in the spring, baking nut bread first for frontline health care workers, and eventually as a fundraiser for MGS.

Proceeds from the fundraiser allowed for the purchase of brand-new rackets, which were given out to MGS families on Saturday. It will allow participants to follow along with MGS’s online instructional videos.

Trish Conrad of Murrysville discovered MGS through East Suburban Citizens Advocacy. Her son Blaine “absolutely loved the whole program,” she said.

“He made new friends from it, and I think it was really good for the high school kids, because they got to be around kids who are different from them,” Conrad said.

Nadesan said the giveaway could not have gone better.

“We were able to get out there and safely donate 30 racket bundles,” he said. “I want to thank all of our sponsors and partners, everyone who made this possible.”

Maholic said her kids may not have warmed up as much to adult tennis teachers.

“I think they felt more comfortable with the MGS teachers because they were younger kids,” she said. “My kids had never played tennis before, so to see these kids from the high school out there wailing on tennis balls and having a great time doing it, my kids got really excited about it.”

In addition to the kids, holding MGS meetings virtually during the pandemic also provided a chance to expand the group’s reach.

“We reached out to three Acme Providers group homes in the area, met with them and distributed 15 rackets there as well,” said Lisa Hnath, an advocate with East Suburban Citizens Advocacy. “The people in the group homes aren’t getting out very much right now, so this gives them a little bit of an outlet.”

Group-home residents will be able to access its instructional videos.

“It was really great to see the kids light up, but the excitement at that group home was really awesome,” Hnath said.

Nadesan said the instructional videos also give MGS a chance to expand its reach.

“When we were in-person, we were limited with how many kids we could have on the court,” he said. “Now that it’s all online, it really opens up the possibilities for us. We can make the videos and take on a bunch more students, which is really exciting for us.”

Maholic said her children were very surprised by the racket giveaway.

“There were four cars in the driveway, a bunch of kids got out and they all had rackets,” she said. “It was just really amazing. It was like Christmas morning on Saturday.”