‘The Ripple Effect:’ Harnessing Pro Tennis, An Iconic Brand, and Local Resources to Serve

When Dave Emkey sits down to start planning the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge each year, his worries are the same as any organizer of a professional tournament. Which pro players can he convince to enter the tournament? Will the sponsors come through? Are people going to show up to watch? And will the weather cooperate with such a tight schedule?

But Emkey isn’t looking for commercial success. For him, the stakes are different. The tournament, which just finished its fourth year, is an exhibition event that benefits the City of Reading Tennis Program by providing tennis scholarships to deserving — but underserved — youth in Reading, Pennsylvania. The scholarships allow the students to continue to have access to learning the sport — even if their families' financial circumstances might not allow for it.

This year, the event took on an extra mission by directing some of the proceeds to the tennis program of nearby Antietam High School after floods inflicted an estimated $22 million in damage to the campus, including the tennis courts and much of the team’s equipment. The final tally included 16 scholarships for the City of Reading and $2500 for the Antietam High School Tennis Flood Relief Fund, as well as cases of balls, ball baskets, and tennis bags from Diadem Sports. “That is what our pro event is all about, helping people and using tennis as a platform to better humanity in Berks County and beyond,” said Ryan Knarr, Berks County Tennis Association president and Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge event director.

But without the same population center like Los Angeles or Chicago or New York City, getting attention on the issue can present challenges. “We don’t have major donors who are putting down six figures to sponsor this event — not yet, anyway,” said Emkey. “We’re much more a grassroots effort, so we need to be strategic and leverage everything we can.”

Emkey’s approach of leveraging what you have starts with the venue. The tournament takes place in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, at the home of Emkey’s parents. The Emkey Tennis Garden, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, is a single court in the pristinely manicured backyard of Ronald and Judy Emkey’s house and is modeled on the same playing surface as the U.S. Open. That court is then leveraged to attract players who are headed to U.S. Open qualifying by giving them competitive matches in a relaxed atmosphere. This year, that turned out to be three of the six competitors.

Then there’s the title sponsor Ellesse, the heritage sportswear brand for which Emkey’s company, NewCo Brands, is the exclusive U.S. distributor. “Ellesse has evolved from its early days as a highly exclusive brand aimed at the wealthy few to a brand that’s much more approachable to more sectors of the public,” said Emkey. “It’s not a cynical business decision — Ellesse’s brand mission to create opportunities for people of all backgrounds backs that up.”

Finally, but perhaps most importantly, there’s the local buy-in from the dozens of local sponsors and donors, plus the scores of volunteers, the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge requires for success. Allison Kalbach, who lives nearby and is a major gifts officer at Alvernia University in Reading, said she first heard about the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge and its community impact in the spring and immediately knew she had to get involved. “There are so many levels of importance to this,” she said.

Kalbach had become tired of hearing negative narratives about the residents of Reading. “The people in our community are so much more than the sum of their difficulties,” she said. Still, she sometimes felt daunted by the stream of stories about gun violence and struggled with how just one person could help. The problem seemed too big and too far out of her reach. Then, when she learned about the tournament, she saw how she could plug in: “What if we could give kids the choice of putting a tennis racket in their hands instead of a gun?”

From that moment, Kalbach was all in. She saw the unique impact tennis can have. “Tennis empowers children with new skills and experiences, self-reliance and problem-solving, as well as community-building — and all of that can shape their lives in important ways.” By the time it was over, Kalbach made a sizeable donation and put in generous bids during the silent auction. Her employer, Alvernia University, whose core mission is “Knowledge joined with love,” also became a sponsor of the event. But Kalbach didn’t just put her money behind it. During the tournament, she volunteered her time from set up to break down and from sunrise to dusk each day.

Over those days, as the kids played their roles as ball kids and at the check-in desk, she said one thing stood out to her more than anything else. “I watched the kids who have probably never had an experience like this and thought about how moments like these can change lives. They had positive role models right there in front of them — not just on tv — and maybe for the first time in their lives they could see with their own eyes how dreams can become reality because that’s exactly what the players in front of them were pursuing.”

One of those players was Kiranpal Pannu, a rising player from New Zealand who was in the middle of a successful summer on the pro circuit. Just a few weeks earlier, Pannu qualified for his first ATP 500 level tournament in Washington, DC, where he pushed world number 75 and 2021 Australian Open semifinalist Aslan Karatsev in the first round before losing to the Russian 7-6, 6-1.

Pannu could have added another tournament to his schedule to extend his run, but he took a detour to Wyomissing, instead. “I’ve played at the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge for a few years now, and I’ve gotten to know the people and the community,” he said. “I enjoy seeing them each year and getting on the court with the kids for the juniors’ clinic.”

For much of the year, Pannu travels to tournaments around the world where there’s often a philanthropic component to benefit a local charity that either helps provide relief or more opportunities to underserved communities. “It’s so important to local people — especially kids — to know they aren’t alone and that there are lots of people as well as global brands like Ellesse that care and are willing to put their resources into helping,” Pannu said, adding, “Tennis has a lot to give, and I’m happy to do my part.”

Kalbach said she believes that tennis is in a unique position to help provide both opportunities and relief thanks to its global reach, storied history, star power, and financial resources. She also said the impact of these efforts go well beyond the court: “We’re all just people and difficult times come for us all at some point in our lives, and there’s a time when all we just need somebody to give us a chance or an opportunity,” said Kalbach. “I know I never forget who was there to help when it mattered most — I think most people remember who was there for us when we needed it.”

She paused for a moment, reflecting on the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge, and said with a smile in her voice: “I can’t wait to see what the ripple effect of those few powerful days in Wyomissing will be.”