Tennis Team Scores Opportunity at Fed Cup

Information courtesy of Johanna DiCarlo, Director of Athletics,

Members of the girls varsity tennis team are heading to the DCU Center today to help at the Fed Cup. The players will serve as community volunteers at the Fed Cup Kids Fest Day, part of the festivities preceding the weekend matches.

“This is a rare opportunity to rub elbows with some of the greatest players in the game while perhaps igniting some future interest in the sport from some children who might not otherwise be introduced to tennis,” said Coach Mary Schwartz.

The Williams sisters, winners of Olympic gold and a number of singles and doubles titles in Grand Slam events, will be joining the Rangers team in working with over 600 youngsters from Worcester. Governor Deval Patrick is also expected to attend.

The team will operate and manage several instructional and activity stations during Kids Fest. The girls were chosen from a number of volunteer applications to help at the event.

The Fed Cup features the best professional female tennis players in the world. It will play its first tie (US vs. Belarus) of the 2012 season at the DCU center this weekend. The recent winner of the women’s singles title at the Australian Open and the top ranked female tennis player in the world, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, is traveling from Melbourne to Worcester to battle, among others, the Williams sisters of the US.

. Past efforts have included a successful fundraiser to battle pancreatic cancer and to support a battered women’s shelter.

Senior Captain Ali Strand said, “As a team, we’re all really excited to help out the community in an activity that we love to do.”