Our First Charity Clinic!

By Shane Connuck

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — On October 25th, 2020, Lev Rudoren stood on the tennis court at Mountainside Park, clutching his racket, awaiting a toss from his instructors. 

The Buzz Aldrin Middle School student was one of about 25 members in a co-ed group participating in the first ever First Serve Tennis charity clinic, an event that spawned from the idea of a 13-year-old.

For Rudoren’s bar mitzvah project, he decided to ask his tennis instructors instructors Aaron Reznik and Matt Slowinski to put on a clinic to raise money for the Isareli Tennis and Education Center. All proceeds from the event were donated, and over $2000 was raised.

The main goal of the Israeli Tennis and Education Center is to “get kids off the street, and to get them to the tennis court,” representative Adam Rosenblaum told the attendees. The tennis player added that the proceeds from the event would feed 10 kids for a month.

After living in Jerusalem for three-and-a-half years, this cause is of particular importance to Rudoren. He said he’d often see kids in the street tossing around a ball of socks since they didn’t have access to actual sporting equipment.

“It always made me feel a little sad,” Rudoren said.

At the clinic, Reznik and Slowinski — now college seniors and former Montclair High School tennis players — guided the groups through a variety of engaging drills and activities. Many of Lev’s Hebrew school classmates attended one or both of the back-to-back one-hour sessions that took place that afternoon. Everyone had a great time playing tennis, and supporting a great cause while doing so.