The Iowa Central Community College Women’s Tennis team focused on two main objectives for their community service work this year: growing the sport of tennis and developing closer relationships with the Fort Dodge citizens. With 170 hours served on the year, the Tritons endeared themselves to their community.
“Serving others is ultimately what leadership is all about,” Head Coach Jerry Thor said. “And while giving back is important, it also gives us so much in return by helping our players become better teammates, better family members, and better local and global citizens.”
The program split their efforts over a wide variety of community service activities – from on-campus events to off-campus and from tennis related to non-tennis related.
On NJCAA Day, the program hosted their first annual “Train With a Triton Day.” They invited community members of all ages to take part in a Triton tennis practice and have some fun while doing so. In addition to the tennis clinic, the Tritons donated their used tennis balls to area animal shelters.
In an effort to spread community cheer, they helped set up the light displays for For Dodge’s yearly “Lights at Kennedy” holiday event. Along with the light display, the players helped sort donations and set up a free flea market event for community members. The “Share What You Wear” event was designed to help individuals pick out secondhand holiday gifts free of charge.
Earlier in the year the team helped setup and clean up Iowa Central Community College’s first annual International Thanksgiving Dinner.
In recognition of the Tritons’ hard work, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association named the team as the national winners of the ITA Community Service Award. They received the national recognition in 2019 as well. The program prides itself on serving the Fort Dodge community and always places an emphasis on service.
