DENVER – When you give a kid a racquet, you give them more than a chance to hit a ball – you give them a shot at belonging. For more than 17 years, Tom Talmadge has been making sure cost isn’t a barrier to that opportunity.
Talmadge co-founded Racquets for All in 2008 with the help of the Colorado Youth Tennis Foundation. What began as a way for tennis players to put their old racquets to good use has grown into a statewide effort that has collected and redistributed more than 12,500 racquets and nearly 100,000 tennis balls to kids and schools across Colorado.
“We gather racquets and clothes from other tennis players that don’t want them anymore, and then I restring them or rewrap the grips and bring them out here for kids who can’t afford them,” Talmadge said.
Unlike large nonprofits with paid staff and overhead, Racquets for All is entirely volunteer-driven. Storage space has never been an issue, thanks to Talmadge’s generosity. His basement has doubled as the sorting hub for donated gear since day one, saving the program thousands of dollars.
“When we first started, we were trying to figure out what to do in terms of storage of racquets,” said Rachel Morley with Racquets for All. “Tom offered up his basement. And his basement has been our storage facility since the start.”
Kristy Harris with USTA Colorado said the program answers a question she hears often from former players: “Who could I give my used racquets to? They’re still in really good shape. I’d love to make sure they go to someone who could really use it.”
For families, the cost of tennis gear is often the biggest obstacle to getting kids involved.
“One of the biggest barriers in sports is access to equipment,” said Anne Ginnold, a guest teacher at the Steven Nash Tennis Academy. “If you go to a club, it’s expensive. And a lot of kids and families can’t afford it.”
That’s where Talmadge steps in. Not only does he restring, regrip, and prepare racquets himself, but he also delivers them, sometimes driving two hours each way to hand-deliver gear to schools in places like Pueblo and Fort Morgan.
To date, thousands of kids have picked up a racquet through the program, some going on to play in high school, college, and beyond. “It’s amazing to hear the stories of kids who pick up a racquet through Racquets for All and make it a sport that they choose to play in high school, college, and beyond,” Morley said.
For many in Colorado’s tennis community, Talmadge’s impact goes far beyond the game. “It matters and he sees how it matters, way beyond tennis,” Harris said. “Racquets for All absolutely would not be the program it is today without Tom.”
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