Tennis team helps make struggling families feel at home

There's nothing quite like a home-cooked meal to put a worried mind at ease.

A bowl of chicken tortilla soup, cornbread, and salad with a brownie for dessert is the dinnertime equivalent of a big hug. And after days, weeks, sometimes months, spent in the hospital with sick children, some of the families at the Missoula Ronald McDonald House could use one.

Enter the Montana women's tennis team.

Last week, the Grizzly netters took a break from the court to make a meal for out of town families staying at the Ronald McDonald House while their children receive treatment at nearby Community Hospital.

A meal might be a simple gesture, but it a little way to make a displaced family feel at home.

"Sometimes just seeing a friendly face goes a long way towards helping families take their minds off things, especially when young people come to the house," said Amy Peterson, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Montana.

"Dinner time is typically when we all gather and share about the day. So, it's an excellent opportunity for these families from out of town get a taste of what awesome people the Missoula and University community is made of."

Griz tennis coach Steve Ascher, always one to be on the lookout for a team-building opportunity, set up the meal for his squad after receiving a $250 grant from Thrivent Financial over the summer.

The funds from the grant went to purchase the food for the meal, with enough left over to make another donation to the RMH of cleaning and household supplies. Everything needed to make a family feel at home.

"It just felt great to come out as a team and help out and also be able to provide a need for the community," said Ascher. "Everybody in Grizzly Athletics does such a great job helping out. It's nice to be able to do something in a little different way where you can fill a need."

Though only a freshman, San Diego native Julia Ronney knows what kind of community support Montanans give to her, her teammates, and all the student-athletes at UM.

She says helping provide a meal for struggling families was the least she could do to give a little something back.

"It was a blast being able to cook all the food as a team, enjoy each other's company and listen to music. It was a good time," said Ronney, who sees volunteerism as an inherent part of her role in the community.

Last year the Griz women's tennis team logged over 100 hours of community service among the seven-person roster, averaging out to 14.57 hours per-person- the fourth-highest average amongst all the teams in Grizzly Athletics.

As a whole, Montana student-athletes logged over 3,600 hours of community service during the 2016-17 school year.

"It's a big part of being a student-athlete and being a part of the University of Montana. It's an important part of the culture. We have a lot of community service hours logged, especially for the tennis team. So, I believe it's an important part of our team and what we believe in."

For Ascher, he hopes that taking opportunities as simple as cooking a meal lead to, not only more wins for his team on the courts this season, but more wins for his players in the game of life after they graduate.

"It's fun to come out as a group, because not only do you work, you talk and get to know each other as well," said Ascher. "I just hope they realize you can have a lot of fun while you work, and hopefully you get a spark so when the kids graduate they go out and do their own community projects."

The Montana women's tennis team opens their fall season this weekend at Idaho State.

University of Montana Athletics

Tennis team helps make struggling families feel at home

Related News

Players Mentioned

Julia Ronney

Related Videos