Tennis star Madison Keys helps ‘Kindness Win’ in the Charleston area

Local dignitaries and over 30 children from underserved areas of North Charleston joined tennis star, Madison Keys, to unveil recently renovated tennis courts at the J.V. Morris Tennis Center. 

 

After the April 3 reveal, the children scored big when the Kindness Wins foundation and the USTA SC hosted a youth tennis clinic with Keys. The clinic was a huge success with the young players who got the opportunity to play alongside their tennis hero.

 

Founded by Keys in 2020, the nonprofit Kindness Wins is dedicated to making the world a kinder place by providing young people access to sports, education, and finding ways to promote #kindness wins. 

 

The road to renewed courts began after Keys awarded USTA South Carolina Manager of Program Development April Gift the Medal of Kindness at the 2022 Charleston Open. Gift’s generous spirit and tireless efforts getting more young people involved in the sport inspired Keys to help the community.  

 

Last year when Keys’ charity held a “Kindness Wins Day” fundraiser on social media, donations poured in from the Charleston Open, WTA Charities, her fellow tennis players, and fans. Keys used the donations to give back to the Charleston community.

 

Charleston holds a special place in the 2019 Charleston Open champion’s heart and the updated courts offered the perfect opportunity to give back. “I’m so happy my foundation was able to play a small role in making something great happen here. I’m grateful to everyone who made this happen,” Keys said.

 

Gift said the new courts are an important win for the community. “It can be absolutely life changing. We’re reaching out to communities to show it’s a lifelong sport. Tennis can change their lives. You can go in so many different directions with tennis; it’s not just about being a player. You could be a tennis director, you could also go into some media…there’s all kinds of avenues and opportunities.”

 

Keys agrees with Gift on how the courts can make a real difference. “I really wanted to focus on trying to actually raise some money to help resurface some public courts because I think tennis is such an amazing sport. And if we can make it more accessible to more people that’s a big priority for me.”

 

She added, “You don’t necessarily have to be a professional tennis player for tennis to open a lot of doors for you. So, I think if my small thing of having some tennis courts be nice and new gets more people into the sport and opens some more doors, I think that’s just a small thing that I can do.” 

 

Keys’ mom, Christine Keys, serves as the president of Kindness Wins and was inspired by how her daughter turned a negative situation around and used it to create a charity. 

 

“I’m really proud of Madison for wanting to do something outside of her tennis career to help others. It started a few years ago when she was getting some not so nice messages on social media, and she knew she wasn’t the only one. She said to me – ‘Mom, I want to use what I do and my platform to try and counteract all the

negativity.’ She thought that maybe if people see her doing something good, it’ll encourage them to do the same,” Christine Keys said.

 

“I’m hoping this will be the first of our many projects and I know Madison really loves being able to give back,” Christine Keys said. She added that she was thrilled that Kindness Wins was able to provide support for the new courts and is looking forward to doing more for the underserved tennis community in the future.  

 

Kindness Wins Communications Manager Elena Scuro said the organization was delighted to play a part in the event. “We know how many great local organizations are involved in tennis, so it’s exciting for Kindness Wins to be a small part of helping renovate the courts they’ll be using, run a fun clinic for kids who will get to meet

Madison, and bring more awareness to the great work the organizations like Play Tennis SC, LYTA, LCTA and Third Serve do,” Scuro said.

 

You can make a donation to Kindness Wins at kindnesswins.org or during Kindness Wins Day, the organization’s annual social media fundraiser held in the fall.