Junior Eddie Bourchier normally would have let a volley that trickled onto an adjacent court go untouched.
On a crisp, quiet night at the Special Olympics Clinic, however, Bourchier sprinted to corral the ball so that he could see one more smile and laugh on the face of a grateful member of his community.
The Penn State men's tennis team held its third annual tennis clinic Thursday night at the Sarni Tennis Center. The event, which was previously held only for Special Olympics athletes in Centre County, branched out to Blair County as well for this year's festivities.
"Being able to interact with these athletes is very rewarding for our team," Bourchier said. "You can tell by the excitement of these people that they look forward to this event. It's a great feeling to be able to brighten their day by just playing tennis and having fun with them."
Coach Todd Doebler said the relaxing atmosphere and the moments shared between the members of his squad and athletes from the area contributed to another memorable night of giving back to the community.
"Everyone had a blast tonight," Doebler said. "We enjoy doing this event more and more every year. Being able to make a difference in the lives of these individuals continues to be a great experience for our team."
The event consisted of an hour and a half of on-court practice tutorials, followed by a casual final competition between mixed teams of both community olympians and Penn State players. Then, the Penn State players and the olympians gathered inside a warm, cozy Sarni Center clubhouse for pizza.
Senior Ryan Gormley has taught in all three clinics over the past three years, and said the most memorable part of the evening is sharing laughs and fun with members of the community.
"Everyone really gets into it when we are all bunched up together on the court playing tennis together and having fun," Gormley said. "It's rewarding to be able to teach these people something about tennis and then be able to hang out and eat with them afterwards."
Bourchier said the team organizes events like these because he and his teammates are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be student-athletes at Penn State. Bourchier said his team treasures any chance to give back to the Central Pennsylvania community.
"We all feel so privileged to have so many opportunities given to us through the university and donors," Bourchier said. "We all have a genuine desire to give back to the people of our area in any way we can."
