Being blessed with access to many opportunities since birth, we have been able to pursue what we wanted, when we wanted, and how we wanted, without having to worry about financial restrictions. This included tennis, a sport with one of the highest financial entry points that demands significant resources, not as a leg-up, but as a prerequisite for participation.
Although we didn't have to worry about this, that was not the case for even the people nearest to us. Being second generation immigrants, most of our relatives have no where near the amount of access we have, and tennis wasn't just out of reach, it wasn't even in the realm of what they thought possible.
Although we can't help everyone, we vowed to do whatever we could to help out children around the world just like them, starting from our own communities. That's why we started Level the Net, a nonprofit dedicated to supplying all children, regardless of their background, with access to tennis and the opportunity to grow through sports.
Ethan Geng — Founder
We're early. These are the commitments we're holding ourselves to over the next year.
Every First Swing clinic stays free, with a racquet in the hand of any kid who shows up without one.
Bring Tennis To You into more Title I schools, so kids meet the sport during the school day.
Grow a trained volunteer and paid coach roster deep enough to hold a 1:4 ratio in Rise Up.
Start where we live, then hand the model to communities that want to run it themselves.
Every coach is a volunteer — former college players, local teaching pros, and parents who started showing up and never stopped. No paid executives, no fancy office. Just people who show up on the court.