The boys and girls teams both have been a joy to watch this year. The girls lost their quarter final match in the kind of marathon session usually reserved for Wimbeldon or the U.S. Open. And quite the story in their own right, the undefeated boys were victorious until the end when they prevailed over Nashoba Regional last Saturday in nearly straight sets.

 

But behind the tale of a championship season lies a less known but equally remarkable story. Every boy on the high school tennis team this year came through the Vineyard Youth Tennis program. Founded ten years ago by an anonymous Island benefactor whose mission was to make tennis instruction available to all Island children for free — forever — the program breaks down the cost barriers that ordinarily make tennis out of reach for people of low and moderate income levels. The goal of the program was never to see the high school tennis team win the state title; rather it was to help children learn the value of mastering a sport and becoming well-rounded as student athletes. The boys’ tennis team this year is the embodiment of those goals, so perhaps the two things are one and the same.

 

Credit for all this can be tracked directly to the vision and generosity of one individual whose name will never be written on the trophy that sits in the front lobby of the high school. The Vineyard is lucky to have such generous philanthropy that will endure long after the glow of the championship season has worn off.