Special Feature
College Tennis Benefits from Team IMPACT Relationships
by Rhiannon Potkey, 30 September 2024
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University of Toledo women’s coach Tracy Mauntler wants to give her players a well-rounded experience in college. As much as she cares about winning matches, Mauntler cares just as much about having a strong team culture that teaches life lessons beyond the court.
Lauren Celebrates with Toledo at the MAC Championship
© Contributed Photo
It’s one of the reasons her program is involved with Team IMPACT, an organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams. Team IMPACT facilitates the match for two years, but families and teams can stay connected beyond that time. The age of the children involved ranges from 5-16 years old.
Toledo is one of 13 NCAA tennis programs involved with Team IMPACT for the 2024-25 season. The Rockets have been matched with Lauren since 2023. The players have hosted her in their team room for movie night and attended her soccer games. They send Lauren video messages when they are on break.
Lauren supported the team throughout the 2023-24 season and was able to celebrate on the courts when they captured their first Mid-American Conference tournament title in program history last spring.
“The idea of Team IMPACT is that the college student-athletes can bring some friendship and positivity to these kids who have had lots of obstacles in their young lives,” Mauntler said. “But the truth is that Lauren has brought so much light to all of us during the process as well.”
Team IMPACT was launched in 2011 by eight former college players who matched a child battling cancer with the St. Anselm’s College men’s hockey team. Since then, Team IMPACT has made more than 3,330 matches on over 800 campuses in all 50 states.
University of Virginia men’s coach Andres Pedroso is grateful his players can use their platform as college athletes to establish such an enriching relationship.
“Our team participates in Team IMPACT because it’s truly a great way to change a young person’s life in a positive way. Surrounding a young boy or girl with quality relationships is probably the best gift you can give them,” he said. “It’s been a mutually beneficial experience, and we plan on staying invested in the Team IMPACT cause for years to come.”
| Division I | DePaul University Men's Tennis | Daniel |
| | Santa Clara University Men's Tennis | Theo |
| | University of Michigan Men's Tennis | Brody |
| | Belmont University Men's Tennis | David |
| | Harvard University Men's Tennis | Burt |
| | University of Virginia Women's Tennis | Irylanna |
| | California State Polytechnic University Women's Tennis | Brooke |
| | University of Toledo Women's Tennis | Lauren |
| | University of Virginia Men's Tennis | Colin |
| | University of Cincinnati Women's Tennis | Lilianna |
| Division II | Grand Valley State University Women's Tennis | Audry |
| Division III | Tufts University Men's Tennis | Nolan |
| | Claremont McKenna College Men's Tennis | Kemuel |
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About Rhiannon Potkey
Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two
decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many
sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories.
Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national
events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches.
Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You
can reach Rhiannon by email at
[email protected].
