Tennis for Fun hosted their first clinic at their newest location, Washington and Lee’s Duchossois Tennis Center, on May 4.
Tennis for Fun is an organization that hosts tennis clinics for individuals of all ages with developmental disabilities like down syndrome. Deviln Daugherty, ’26, said he brought the club to the university to provide an opportunity for individuals with disabilities to “have a social event to look forward to where they can get active.”
“The focus is on making sure the athletes have a good time in a fun and inclusive environment,” Daugherty said.
Nathan Moore founded Tennis for Fun in Florida in 2000. According to the Tennis for Fun website, Moore created the organization when he was in high school in order to “create a positive and fun activity for special needs athletes in the greater Tampa area.” Since then, the organization has grown, providing tennis clinics all across the country in 24 different locations.
Before bringing the clinics to Lexington, Daugherty said he used to volunteer at Tennis for Fun clinics back in his home state of West Virginia.
Ryan Taylor, ’26, a Tennis for Fun volunteer, said she and Daugherty both have siblings that have Down syndrome so they were passionate about creating a space for people like them.
“In less populated counties, there are less opportunities catered towards people with special needs. Sometimes all they need is just a little extra help or a slower pace, and we are happy to provide that at Tennis for Fun,” Taylor said. “I’ve found with my sister, slowing things down allows you to take in more of the beautiful things in life and lets you see what you would’ve otherwise missed.”
Daugherty did not have to start the Lexington chapter of Tennis for Fun alone. For the first clinic, coaches from the Charleston, West Virginia, chapter dropped by to help get the organization started, he said.
Daugherty said that he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of athletes that made it to the clinic, and he was happy with the positive reception from the first two clinics.
“The athletes were extremely excited, especially at the second clinic where parents told me they had been looking forward to it all week,” he said.
The organization also gave W&L students the opportunity to get more involved in the Lexington community by volunteering to help with the clinic. According to Daugherty, volunteers did not need any prior experience with the sport to help out.
“We had a lot of W&L students come to volunteer where they worked with the athletes one on one or in small groups in throwing balls for the kids to hit,” he said.
Daugherty said that he hopes to grow and expand the organization next year. He said he wants to focus on doing more community outreach and hosting special events for the athletes.
“For the future we want to make this [the clinics] a regular bi-monthly event and have some of them themed based on holidays or athlete’s birthdays to keep building the program,” Daugherty said.
