Ross School Junior Donating Time With Free Program for Girls
For the past six months, Ally Friedman, a junior at the Ross School in East Hampton, has been running a free program for young girls in the local community, helping to teach them valuable life skills through tennis.
“T.H.E. B.A.L.L.,” as it’s called, stands for “Tennis Health Empowerment Building Attitude Lifetime Lessons,” and the group meets once a week for 90 minutes on the Ross School campus.
“I created this program where I teach girls between the ages of seven and 10 things like tennis, nutrition and fitness. And at the end of each class, I include a few minutes of mindfulness,” said Friedman. “Basically the skills you need to live a happy and healthy life.”
The desire to give back and create a program of her own came from a trip she took to Zimbabwe last year. Friedman went with a group called Hoops 4 Hope, a non-profit that takes kids off the streets and teaches them life skills through basketball and song and dance.
“From the first day I was there, I could tell that it had changed me,” she recalls. “I was so happy to see all these kids having fun, and I knew that I wanted to do something to make a difference. I knew I couldn’t create a program that big right away, so I had to start small and created this girls-only program.”
She began by contacting guidance counselors, teachers and even pediatricians around her area to explain what she was doing and try to put together a group of girls to take part in this class. After making a number of calls, Friedman was able to put together a class of about 12 girls, and the program commenced in January.
“I understood that some of the girls wouldn’t love tennis as much as I do, so I decided to teach them other things they may not normally be exposed to,” said Friedman. “I brought in professionals to teach self-defense, nutrition, fitness, agility and soccer. All of these different things to keep them active, and through that, building self-esteem and helping them to feel empowered.”
Friedman says her school has been extremely supportive of her work.
“Every single week, I have a court available to me to teach, and Ross allows me to use the rackets and balls that are here,” Friedman said. “They’ve been amazing. If I ever need advice from my coaches on how to teach something, they are there for me. Marcelo Reda, a coach here at the Ross School, has been a mentor of mine in creating the program. I’ve been teaching these girls from scratch, so I had to teach them the basics, and the coaches here have been great in teaching me how to teach.” 
The primary goal of the program is to help instill self-confidence in the girls, and using tennis as the focal point in doing so.
“Not only are they much more active, but they’re just a lot nicer to themselves and each other which is so important,” said Friedman. “It’s a great group of girls and I’ve not only seen them improve a lot tennis-wise, but in so many other ways as well.”
Friedman has plans to continue growing the program, and has begun creating a curriculum. This way, when she graduates, there will be a structure in place so that the program lives on.
“I have also applied for a grant from the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, and I find out in September if I have earned that,” said Friedman. “I would use that money to get rackets for the girls, and also bring in more instructors, so I can expand to more kids and more courts.”
In addition, Friedman says she will be applying for a grant from the USTA as she hopes to further the program in order to help more girls.
While her class has taught lessons to many young girls, it has also helped to teach Friedman more about herself and she has seen her own self-improvement.
“The one thing I’ve definitely learned throughout this whole process has been to be flexible, and that I can only control what I can control,” said Friedman. “I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’m much more confident publicly speaking and talking to parents. So it’s just been an amazing experience, and I’m excited to continue it this fall.”
