Taylor Area Tennis Association and Reese helping local youth put their best foot forward
It’s back-to-school season, and sneakers keep coming to the mind of Marcus Reese, the president of the Taylor Area Tennis Association.
For one thing, Reese just helped pull off a wildly successful fundraiser for TATA Aug. 13 in Austin at the area premiere of “Who is Stan Smith?” The documentary film showcased the world-champion tennis star best known for his namesake green-and-white Adidas kicks.
“Hi, Stan Smith here, and welcome to ‘Who is Stan Smith?’” said the 1972 Wimbledon champion in a prerecorded video
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These funds are going to be utilized for outreach to kids”
-Marcus Reese, Taylor Area Tennis Association shoutout to TATA, just before the screening at the Austin Film Society. “It’s great you are doing this for The Taylor Area Tennis Association, and I’m also glad to hear maybe some of you are wearing the right shoes tonight.’” More than 100 viewers, many of whom were clad in the iconic sneakers, attended the event, which raised more than $7,500 for the Taylorbased nonprofit.
Reese said the money will be used for awareness, free programming and even tennis gear for local youths.
“These funds are going to be utilized for outreach to kids,” Reese said. “We don’t screen whether you can afford tennis or cannot afford tennis. That’s not the role of TATA. The role is for us to do free programming, regardless of how much you make or how little you make. There is dignity involved.”
However, equipping area youngsters with tennis rackets and other equipment has not been Reese’s only concern lately.
At the height of preparing for the fundraiser, Reese said God added another sneaker-related task to his personal to-do list: offering to buy shoes for kids in Taylor whose parents couldn’t afford it.
“I’m a believer,” Reese said. “I had this feeling for like four or five days. It was this overwhelming feeling. And then I heard a dad have to tell his son that he was not going to be able to afford to get these shoes, and then I see them leave without being able to get the shoes. It was amplified that I was supposed to do something.”
In a posting to a local Facebook group, Reese offered to buy tennis shoes for children whose parents could not afford them. He knows what it is like to be a child and perhaps not have the right sneakers, he added.
“I remember growing up and not being able to have new shoes, but the years I did, it was a real boost to my confidence,” he wrote. “This will be anonymous. It’s not for cameras, just something the Lord put on my heart.”
Reese said the post was met with an overwhelming response from people in need — as well as those wanting to help.
“I put the post out, and then all of a sudden, people are just like, ‘I want to help, put me down for two, here’s some money,’” Reese said. “We ended up with 25 kids that needed shoes from eight or nine families. But people are so generous, we will actually be able to get a little bit better, top-of-the line shoes that they will be proud of.”
Not only that, but the retail chain Adidas also stepped in to help with discounts and other offers, Reese said.
Grant Chambers, CEO of Workhorse Marketing, as well as the board president of the Capital Area Tennis Association, said Reese’s commitment to the success of others is not unusual.
“Marcus Reese lives and breathes this tennis community,” Chambers said at the Aug. 13 screening. “He wakes up, and both professionally and as a volunteer, he asks himself every day, ‘How can I help impact someone’s life? I cannot say enough good things about Marcus. He does big things and he does small things.”
