tennis players who started their own foundation milos raonic

5 Tennis Players Who Started Their Own Foundation

If all people would take a cue from these tennis players in doing their share serving others, then the world would be a much better place.

Then there are those tennis players who go the extra mile by starting their own foundation that they fund through prize earnings, endorsement earnings, and collaborations with other individuals or organizations who are equally charitable as them.

To start with, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have foundations they started early in their professional tennis career. Steffi Graf also started her own foundation called Children for Tomorrow.

But here are other tennis players who followed suit.

1) Andre Agassi

Agassi’s foundation, which was named after him, has one mission: transform the public education system in the US. It aims to influence state and federal policies. Its tagline is “With Education, There is Hope.”

His foundation firmly believes that key stakeholders – from the parents down to educators themselves – must be proactive in introducing changes on how the kids are educated. This is more so that each child has the “right to thrive.”

2) Serena Williams

Williams set up her own foundation, Serena Williams Foundation, which has two primary objectives. First is to assist youth who are victims of violent crimes and second is to assist underprivileged youth who have no access to education. 

With this, the foundation targets providing high-quality education to these youth through scholarships. Scholars can either attend college, learn a trade, and become an entrepreneur. The biggest accomplishment of the foundation so far is the Serena Williams Secondary School. 

Williams strongly believes that education plays a critical role in the overall development of a child. Education is also vital in solving problems faced by impoverished African families. Thus, her foundation strives to provide children with free education. 

3) Sloane Stephens

One of the most recent foundations in this list is that of Sloane Stephens Foundation, which was started in 2016. Stephens started her own organization when she was resting due to a stress fracture for 11 months. 

Her foundation aims to develop sustainable enrichment programs intended for underprivileged children who otherwise have a big dream for themselves and their families.

4) Bryan Brothers

Mike and Bob Bryan created their Bryan Bros Foundation to help at-risk children across the US. They provide financial assistance to charities and organizations including City Impact and Red Cross Ventura County. Their biggest donation to date is $713,397.

The brothers believe in the values that the sports impart to children. As such, the foundation hosts charity matches where they invite professional tennis players including Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi, John Isner, Andy Roddick, and more.

5) Milos Raonic

Raonic started his foundation in 2011 when he was recovering from injury. He was exposed to the struggles of children with physical disabilities.

As such, he aimed at supporting the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their goals by eliminating physical as well as economic barriers to achieving their dreams. 

In 2016, the foundation gave a grant amounting to $30,000 to the Canadian Paralympic Committee. His foundation continuously hosted an event called Raonic Race for Kids. in 2014 alone, the event which contributes to assisting children with disabilities was able to raise $129,000.

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Are you aware of other tennis players who have their own foundations? Please share the info with us. TIA.

Posted in Tennis.