Local resident Marco Renella began the Gilroy Tennis Club
Charitable Trust in 2007, a nonprofit dedicated to all things youth
tennis in the area
GILROY
Marco Renella is busy, but that’s how he likes it — moving a mile-a-minute.
If you can get the Gilroy resident to sit still for an extended period of time, though, he will no doubt keep the conversation rolling at a feverish pace.
Name any topic and he will indulge, bouncing from point to point — an anecdote here and a sarcastic remark there. Engaging, to say the least.
Mention tennis and look out; there is no measurement to define Renella’s passion for the sport and making it readily available to the youth of Gilroy.
A 1961 graduate of Live Oak High School, Vietnam War veteran, former commercial airline pilot of 40 years and Gilroy resident since 1990, Renella has a charitable heart and fills his free time with facilitating tennis to Gilroy’s youth.
He doesn’t really have an extended answer for why he has dedicated his time in this area.
“It’s time to give back,” Renella simply says with a smile.
And that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Serving as the Gilroy Tennis Club’s president on three separate occasions since its inception in 1973, the first in 1992, Renella, 67, realized something was missing during his various stints in charge — the children.
“I really think the kids in this community need to get more involved,” Renella said.
So in 2007, Renella formed the Gilroy Tennis Club Charitable Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to all things youth tennis in the area.
Since 1998, the Gilroy Tennis Club, which has upwards of 350 members who play on 47 teams each year, and the Charitable Trust have combined to give the City of Gilroy and the Gilroy Unified School District $200,000, Renella said, which has contributed to the resurfacing of GHS, the reconstruction of the courts at Gavilan College, Las Animas Park and South Valley Middle School.
“Gilroy has wonderful tennis facilities,” Renella said. “I’m all for it.”
Also, money Renella has brought in through various grants has assisted in establishing after school tennis programs, including all necessary equipment, for grades fourth through eighth at a number of schools in the GUSD.
“That’s when you want to get them, at 7, 8, 9 years old,” Renella said. “And we provide everything. I want those under 12 year olds to get into tennis for all the good reasons: it’s affordable, the courts are right there and it’s accessible. You can play tennis 12 months out of the year.”
With his target audience in mind, Renella, for the third straight year, in conjunction with the Gilroy Tennis Club, hosted the nationwide tradition tabbed “Tennis Night in America,” or known around here as “Tennis Day in Gilroy” at Christopher High on March 6.
Utilizing a fresh way to team children with the game called Quickstart, which dissects a normal tennis court at 68 feet long by 38 feet wide into four smaller courts, and uses modified equipment that is better suited to teaming a kid to play the game, Renella said.
“With the different equipment, you can have a kid playing tennis in an hour,” Renella said. “Tennis is like golf, you can’t go out and just hit a golf ball. This is made to help a kid jump right in there. That’s why they call it Quickstart.”
The rackets are smaller, the tennis balls are larger in size and made of foam, which limits the bounce.
“The regular balls bounce too high,” Renella said. “Kids couldn’t hit it and never learned the proper strokes. Now, the ball bounces to their waist level. It’s perfect. Now they know they can hit the ball. The ‘Tennis Day in America’ introduces these things. That’s why we are doing this.”
About 78 children ages 5 through 12 scurried around the gymnasium at Christopher High School, running Renella and about 25 volunteer coaches ragged.
“I got home and I looked pretty tired,” Renella said. “We generated a lot of good interest. It was just as much about the parents because some signed their kids up for the Junior Team Tennis League.”
The JTTL is the local chapter that falls under the United States Tennis Association rules and is a once-a-week league where youth teams compete against other youth teams.
“There was a lot of excitement and many parents wanted to know how to keep kids learning more about tennis,” JTTL Director Jack Maguire said. “Also our program is a great way for kids to make new friends in their own age group.”
If the conversation shifts toward personal accolades, Renella always prefaces the topic with a disclaimer of sorts, mentioning that it’s never about him but more about the people and the children benefiting from the programs and inviting facilities.
As much as he keeps it under wraps, Renella has garnered recognition, including the Outstanding Community Tennis Volunteer for Northern California, presented to him by the United States Tennis Association at a ceremony in January.
