Rally for Tennis serves up community

For the Oberg brothers, tennis is more than a sport. It is a way to give back to the world.

Tait, Cole and Tanner Oberg, along with friend Alek Karagozyan, run Rally for Tennis, a charity that connects children with opportunities to play tennis. Earlier this month, the United States Tennis Association of New England presented Tanner with the Junior Community Impact Award for his leadership as president of operations. In the four years since Rally for Tennis was founded, it has raised over $500,000 and served more than 10,000 children interested in the sport.

Tanner, a 17-year-old junior at the Roxbury Latin School, is one of the youngest tennis lovers in the Oberg family. Like his older brothers, he inherited the love of the sport from his mother. He also believes the sport helps teach life skills such as accountability.

“Tennis is a great sport; it teaches you a lot,” he said. “You’re on your own and you have to solve problems yourself…It’s definitely one of the tougher sports mentally. You don’t have a team around you; if you lose a match, it’s all on you.”

His brothers Tait and Cole founded the organization with fellow player Karagozyan in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. When lockdown began, the three realized that tennis was central to their community.

“It seemed like just a sport before then, but when we got separated, we realized the community aspect. It really provides a community for you,” Tait said. “We recognized the impact the sport has had in our lives and we wanted anyone who wanted to play tennis, whether they had financial access or not, to be able to play.”

The organization has grown into a multistate operation. Throughout the year, fundraising efforts are made to support local charities providing tennis instruction. Events are also held throughout New England, New Jersey and Utah to bring the community together and teach the sport.

Now that Tait, Cole and Karagozyan have gone off to college, Tanner, 17, has taken the reins of the organization. Karagozyan, who first met Tait and Cole at a tennis event in Maine, said the Oberg family has been an energetic and dependable group to work with. Tanner has taken after his brothers.

“He always seems like he’s calm and put together. That’s a very difficult skill to have,” Karagozyan said. “When I was a sophomore, I was running around at the first event trying to figure things out…he is always on top of it.”

Although the founders are less involved in the day-to-day operations than they once were, they continue to support Tanner and the organization. Cole, who is a freshman on Brown University’s tennis team, helps run Rally for Tennis events at his school, in addition to keeping the organization running. At a recent Rally for Tennis event at Brown, kids took to the court and learned about the sport from varsity players. Cole said that seeing children enjoying the sport reminds him why he loves it.

“There are days you go on the court and there are nine million other places you want to be. Having this opportunity to see how happy tennis makes you and makes other people provides gratitude,” Cole said. 

As president of operations, Tanner has expanded the program’s outreach by creating chapters throughout the Northeast and Utah. Each chapter has a leader in charge of fundraising and organizing the local tennis community to help others.

“Tennis, for me and my brothers, has been a big part of our lives,” Tanner said. “We wanted to give that opportunity to anyone who wanted to join.”

For more information about Rally for Tennis, visit rallyfortennis.com