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After leaving nursing at CHEO's neo-natal ICU, Danielle knew she wanted to continue serving the community, but by "creating something great," she said.
Driving past Hillcrest High's abandoned tennis courts every day, courts once loved back in the 1960's, Danielle had an idea: why not serve the community through sport? Whereas most people would choose to make a tennis club out of available courts, she knew through experience how clubs often have an air to them, restricting their facilities to people who can pay for lessons and courtside fees. Thus creating a financial barrier to the sport and not being open to the community at large. Instead of making a profit from developing the courts into a club, Danielle decided to do the opposite: to create Ottawa's first and only grassroots tennis charity, giving anyone and everyone the chance to play tennis. Speaking with the principal of the high school, both settled on a lease agreement, where Danielle and the team would use and maintain the courts and the school would own the site and let its kids use it during school hours. In 2003, she secured the Ontario Trillium Foundation grant and received $33,000 to resurface the decades-old courts. This spoke to her resilience in achieving her long-term goal of giving everyone from all walks of life the opportunity to play tennis, even if it meant putting in the work to revitalize long neglected courts. Shortly after Hillcrest, she expanded her charity, as Ridgemont Highschool also opened their two courts to Danielle and was resurfaced as well. Nearly a decade later, Danielle tried to figure out how to operate her ambitious plan: to give women and children the ability to play the sport for free through charitable donations, enabling them to build their confidence through learning tennis skills and match play, as well as promoting tennis as a sport. To do this, she hired high school students and scoured the city to find people with tennis experience to coach lessons, invited volunteers, high school volunteers included, to lend a helping hand, applied for more grants to upkeep the space and paid insurance to maintain its operations among many more initiatives to kickstart it. To truly achieve her goal, her charity needed to reach charitable status. After three years of waiting, in 2012, A Love of Tennis finally received such a status. However, not everything came easy, but Danielle never gave up, keeping her charity operational through it all. This was evident from frequent program schedule changes, as some years were more chaotic than others. Even worse, when COVID-19 raged on through multiple summers, programs were halted altogether, losing precious time to give people the chance to play. After COVID restrictions lifted, the charity had to be promoted all over again and it was a challenge to get it going. Now, A Love of Tennis proudly provides a variety of programs and events all spring and summer. With a donation based model, free tennis lessons are given to children aged 5 through 17, all with particular names categorized by age, women's beginner and intermediate lessons are provided to women of all ages, school programs on and off site are organized, tennis camps and tournaments are hosted, adult leagues are scheduled and team tennis leagues are created for kids. Although busy, the charity continues to have a myriad of opportunities open to all, with registrations filling up early and waitlists existing every year. In addition to A Love of Tennis, Danielle created Tennis on the Streets, a local initiative to provide tennis lessons to children of low-income families who do not often have the means or transportation to participate in sports or commute to sports facilities. Furthermore, through her collaboration with Tennis Canada's Girls. Set. Match. program, she has provided all-girls league programs and encouraged multiple women into becoming female tennis coaches and receive coaching certification. As a result of her passion for tennis and her perseverance lasting over two decades, opportunities have finally come along. Just this spring, she was invited to participate in the inaugural Women Who Rally leadership cohort, a 10-month learning program for women tennis coaches with Danielle being one of only 20 women chosen worldwide. What's more, in August, the courts at Hillcrest will be resurfaced to improve play as a result of successful grant applications. In addition, after years of not having lighting on court, Danielle finally received an Ontario Trillium grant of nearly $70,000 to update the lights in the fall to extend programming into evenings. After 23 years since A Love of Tennis' founding, creating tennis opportunities for all through thick and thin, a lot has been achieved thanks to Danielle and her family pushing for the charity's continued existence. Six hard courts have been refurbished, 10,000 volunteer hours were put forth by the community, a total of 12,000 children participated in programming, six coaches were certified as instructors by Tennis Canada, 10 schools were given tennis equipment and training as well as incorporating the sport into their physical education, 100% of participants improved their physical literacy scores and 85% retained participation. Most importantly, besides the charity's milestones and personal achievements, it has touched the lives of so many people, something Danielle herself has made sure to promote. From giving children of all backgrounds and incomes the chance to play the sport and gain the confidence to play sports in general, providing mothers time for themselves, making youth players and coaches feel like they can achieve something, to even just giving people of all ages the ability to lead a healthier lifestyle, A Love of Tennis has done more for the community than Danielle has ever hoped for. "Where one door closes, another opens," Danielle said, referring to how post-retirement she was able to create a lasting impact on the community long after her nursing career. From saving lives, to changing them, she believes it's important to put the community first. That comes from giving people a taste of tennis, the world's healthiest sport, for free.
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friday's girls. set. match. tournament pushed on despite the rain: how girls still came to play6/21/2026 It's 4:00 P.M. and all four Hillcrest courts are shiny because of the storm that happened minutes ago. Leaf blowers are used to dry out puddles. Rags and tennis court squeegees try their very best to dry out the surface. Parents with their children start putting down their things under the roof and just when the courts look dry enough, it rains again, and hard. But no one gives up. The rain is seen as only a minor setback, so the tournament is pushed to 5:00 P.M. instead. Although the rain continued throughout the rest of the evening, it got light enough for the team to start drying the courts again and for some matches to be played. Despite the rain coming down in waves, parents with their kids still made sure to make their way to the courts, with smiles on their faces. While the courts were being dried, girls in categories ranging from U12 to U18 got a hold of gift bags, a starter kit for making new friends. Some came all the way from Montreal with hopes of participating in the OTA tournament, while some, if not most, were A Love of Tennis' very own program participants. Even with the variety of ages and differing background, the girls still mingled under the dry roof. In the gift bag, among other items like t-shirts, markers and stickers, was a little information booklet with many useful pages inside. On most of the pages were questions with dedicated writing space. Questions like 'if you were to change one rule in tennis, what would it be?' or 'what other sports do you play? Rate them out of five stars.' But what really got the girls moving from one picnic table to another, was the booklet's bingo page. Featured on the bingo page was a plethora of qualities and traits girls must find in other players to check off on their bingo squares. Traits like 'someone with long hair' or 'someone who isn't afraid of spiders,' as examples. Although the booklet was a fun socializing exercise, the tournament still had to go on and even with the constant drizzle, the players were determined to win. All four courts were used and to make it so that all girls could participate, the original match schedules were abandoned and score objectives shortened, with it being best to 10 points for younger players and best to four tennis games total for older or more advanced girls. For safety reasons, girls were allowed to let the ball bounce twice (or more for younger girls) before hitting. In addition, pylons were placed carefully around deep puddles to ensure no one was stepping in them. The energy was competitive, to say the least. Girls of all ages happily announced their scores after winning a match and many screamed in happiness or disbelief upon winning or losing pivotal points. Even though wet balls had to be replaced often with dry ones, and the court, being increasingly slippery, got some close calls, not one girl wanted to call it a day, speaking to their will to win matches. Eventually, the tournament had to be called in early because the rain's intensity started up again. So, instead of ending at 8:30 as planned, it ended at 7:00 P.M., with a few younger players finishing up their jungle tennis-style matches past that time. And the young players really enjoyed it, just like the rest that day. Sprinting towards the baseline, a player's eyes were focused intensely on the falling ball, their teammate cheering them on, calling out their name with conviction. On another court, racquets clashed together as girls yelled at each other, saying "got it" or "you got this!" They didn't notice that the balls got muddier or that the court got more slick. Whatever the score, the age or the skill level, what all the girls had in common was their striving for success and the enjoyment they had for playing the sport. That was why they came out on Friday, even with the rain pouring. Fortunately, A Love of Tennis didn't end up cancelling or postponing the tournament, like what most places would have done. Instead, Danielle, Ashley and the team thought, they must give these girls a chance to play, even if the chance only lasts a short while. After all, there is always time for tennis.  A group photo with all the participants of the Girls. Set. Match. tournament. At the end of the day, all the girls came together under the light drizzle to capture the moment.  Participants from the tournament, A Love of Tennis' very own, gather under the roof to play some bingo. In the meantime, the team tries to dry the courts a second time in preparation for match play.  Participants of the U12 category play a jungle tennis-style match just before the tournament gets called off.  Danielle (left) and Ashley (right) determine which team will play against whom.  Girls in the U16 category play a match on court 4 during a period when the rain ceased momentarily.  Danielle gives an introductory speech to the girls right before the tournament starts.  Participants from the U16 category shake racquets after an intense match.  U12 teammates congratulate each other by touching racquets after a hard fought point.  Danielle awards a participant with a medal after two hours of non-stop competition.  A competitor of the U18 category serves in during a period of heavy rainfall. After over an hour of competition, playing doubles and kings of the court, the teenagers gather under the shade of the roof, huddled around the picnic tables. Today is the final day of the Slice program and the kids, previously leaving on their own at different times, are now together, listening to Danielle announce the winners from the past few weeks of match play. Little white boxes are handed out to a few and claps can be heard from fellow participants. Winners smile shyly while their friends jokingly encourage them. On the boxes are inspirational messages and the logo featured at the top. When the box is opened, a newly decorated, bedazzled tennis ball can be seen. Rhinestones of gold, silver, bronze or other colours line the seams and words like "grace," "play," or "believe in yourself," are written all over, the words aligning with ever-changing themes. Danielle believes a tennis ball's journey doesn't end after it's been used. Instead of flooding garbage cans and landfills, the used balls become cheaper alternatives to trophies and medals. This is the ball program. Compared to a plastic trophy, these balls are more impactful. When a kid receives a ball, not only do they read the motivational messaging featured on it, they also feel a sense of achievement in the sport, by being given the very thing that defines it. "Jack carried his around forever-even had it in his bed with him," Danielle recounts as balls were handed out to the winners of younger child and adult programs, as the spring schedule came to a close. Each ball is carefully decorated by hand, using hot glue guns, pens and sparkly ink. Every ball has a unique design, with some having drawn-on smiley faces and other distinct characteristics. At the end of the congregation, the winners are photographed with their new, white boxes with smiles on their faces, indicating a sense of achievement. Children and adults will keep these as mementoes of their hard work, even as the years go by. Pictures below: Top left shows four boys of the Love program happily unboxing their ball trophies. Beside (top right) is a photo capturing the moment when Danielle hands over a box to a Slice program winner with the rest of the teens watching. Bottom left photo shows Danielle handing out boxes to participants of the adult program. The bottom middle photo captures Danielle announcing the winners in the Slice program with the kids listening intently. The bottom right picture shows the winners from the Slice program proudly showcasing their ball trophies on court.
Below is a photo of Danielle Smith (left), Founder and Director of A Love of Tennis, picking up balls with Oksana (right), participant in the women's intermediate program. The women of the program mention the sense of community they feel once they step foot on the court, thanks to Danielle, Ashley and the all-female space which brings them together.  "There's a tendency to believe that keeping active later in life, especially through sports, is more like a male thing, and women are kind of regulated to maybe stretching or yoga," says Darlene, a participant of A Love of Tennis' women's intermediate program.
She was introduced to tennis in childhood, but as she explains, it was her father that was playing more often. Now, she plays both tennis and volleyball and finds there are distinct differences between the two sports. "With my schedule, I can't always commit to a team," she says. "It's nice to be able to have the option of having an individual sport where I really just have to manage mine or a partner's schedule, as opposed to being committed to a fixed day a week and if I'm not available, I'd be letting a team down." Another difference between a team sport like volleyball and a single sport like tennis, is the different kind of health benefits tennis offers. "It moves different parts of your body around, tennis is more sprinting, fast takes, sudden moves, kind of side to side (...) so it's a lot of power that's needed, but also a lot of control," Darlene explains. "Definitely a great cardiovascular workout and to compare to something like volleyball, where you're spending quite a bit of time waiting for the ball (...) it's not as consistent running around after the ball." With the women's intermediate program in particular, participants themselves describe the enjoyment they get out of playing the sport after working hours in a virtually all-women's setting. Once a week, women of every level get onto the courts and play for an hour and a half, teaming up with and playing against other women before the sun sets. Cheers and laughs are often heard as some apologize for producing a drop shot "on purpose," while others make jokes from across the net, saying "I think she's done this before." The joyful atmosphere is palpable. During every water break, groups come together, introducing themselves, talking about their families or work. Oksana, another participant of the intermediate program, explains how participating has given her something to look forward to. "Just to have like on Tuesday at six o'clock to go somewhere. I organize my day, I look forward to it (...) the ladies are amazing." "I love it because I get to meet amazing people from all walks of life," she says. Rena, another intermediate participant from Oksana's group, explains how the program makes her feel more welcomed compared to a traditional tennis club. "It's less intimidating perhaps, and you still get the same value and benefits out of the coaching without the kind of prestige; it's more relaxed," she says. Darlene in particular appreciates how the all-women's program makes her feel more comfortable. "There are some women who prefer to be in a women's only section, either because they might feel intimidated by males being around or you might be more aware of your body," she explains. "It's just one less thing that we have to think about. We can just think about ourselves as women, taking care of ourselves." Darlene mentions how public gyms feel like places where women frequently worry about being looked at and feel, especially with sports like powerlifting for example, as though men might compare themselves to women in terms of strength or fitness. Out here on the Hillcrest courts, women can hit the ball as hard as they want and celebrate points won. With a lot of the women being in their 30's and 40's, schedules get complicated and those who are mothers find they look out for others before taking care of themselves. A Love of Tennis' women's beginner and intermediate programs help them take time off during the week and just be themselves. "Even when we have free time, we kind of deal with that guilt of maybe 'oh I should be doing something else' ," Darlene says . "When you sign up for a sport like tennis in a women's league, it actually forces you to not think about anyone else. I can't be playing and running after balls when I am thinking about schedules or lunches or whatever it might be." Rena, whose daughter participates in the First Love program, says tennis is a sport that teaches life lessons and helps build character across all ages and programs. "Building that confidence, learning how to swallow your pride sometimes and come back from losses, so it's a great life sport." Rena, Oksana and Darlene all believe that tennis is a sport that can be played for life, addressing its ability to strengthen not only the body, but the mind as well. Oksana's father in particular, who was in his 70's, still played the sport with friends. "My father was like 76 years old and was still spending five hours on the tennis court," Oksana recounts, as she also wishes to continue to play far into the future. Even if the score is 0-6 by the end of the session, the women still leave the courts with big smiles and some even walk away in pairs. With the women's league, it's not about being the best player on court or being the quickest learner of tennis skills, it's about having fun, maintaining good health and making lasting connections, all while being surrounded by other women just like you. Not as many Ottawa children know much about tennis. Here's how a love of tennis changes that.6/8/2026  A group of kids from Vincent Massey Public School gather in front of the practice wall after their lesson.  Kids from Vincent Massey Public school learn to control the ball for the first time during the warm up.  Children engage in the "alley rally" activity, where each of them try to bounce the ball to their partner within the double's alley.  Coaches teach the children how to alley rally.  One group of kids line up on the double's line, awaiting instructions for the next activity. It's past noon at the Hillcrest courts and the last group of 20 to 40 middle schoolers line up at the double's line in the Monday heat. Up to half the crowd on average raise their hands when asked how many played tennis before.
"I play tennis with my family," some say. "I play at the public courts near where I live," another exclaims. Names like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are thrown around as kids nod their heads at the question: do you know of any famous players? In the Alta Vista community, quite a few children claim to have basic tennis knowledge or experience, but how many children throughout the rest of the city can say the same? The short answer: not so many. Anna, teacher at Vincent Massey Public School and a former participant in the women's intermediate category, had her class participate in A Love of Tennis' school program, a program where during times outside of their regular scheduling, the organization provides free courtside tennis lessons for children attending nearby schools, with the help of the public's donations. The program introduces kids to tennis during gym class hours. Anna explained how a number of the children she teaches were not aware of nearby public tennis courts, particularly the Hillcrest courts they were walking to, even with a portion of them claiming to have experience. "They thought we were going on a bus, for example," she said. "So now (after participating in the school program) they know the courts are right here." Their lack of knowledge of existing tennis spaces makes sense. According to the City of Ottawa's website detailing clubs and partnerships for sports and fitness, only 15 dedicated tennis clubs exist in the city, with 13 of them being seasonal outdoor facilities and merely two being indoor. The Ottawa Athletic Club, a well-known indoor tennis and athletics club for over 40 years, closed down for good after COVID. Whereas in cities like Toronto and Montreal, dedicated clubs total up to 70 and 80 respectively. Anna explained why she wanted her class to participate in A Love of Tennis' school program, one of very few grassroots initiatives for tennis in the country. "I thought it would be a nice opportunity for them to be introduced to a sport that they may not have the opportunity to play," she said, admiring how A Love of tennis enables children to get a chance at playing the sport; an excellent way to introduce more kids to tennis, a sport not known for being economical. She recounted when she went in to enroll her son into private tennis lessons and the price was exponential. "I recently brought in my son for an assessment at a different club and it's a big consideration because of the price," she said, citing how up to $2000 of annual investment can be required to pay for lessons. So, the reason as to why not as many children in Ottawa play tennis may be because of the financial barrier, but is there more to it than just monetary obstacles? Anna noticed how big tournaments like the National Bank Open are not as popular when compared to other sporting events in the city, possibly hinting to a lack of tennis promotion. "Because it's so close for people in Ottawa to go (...) but people don't think to do that," mentioning how the tournament's Montreal location is not usually frequented by Ottawans. She also cited other reasons. "I find that it's not as accessible to watch, " she said. "You have to have certain channels you need to pay for in order to be able to access those games and a lot of the local sports pubs and bars won't put on matches unless you ask them directly." Considering these reasons for a lack of youth tennis involvement in Ottawa, the question is how can these obstacles be combatted? The answer is: it starts with exposure. Without being introduced to the sport first, children wouldn't know how much they could be enjoying it. For some kids on the court, tennis was a first-time encounter. While some groups started out saying tennis was "ok" or was believed to be hard, many later went on to practice bouncing orange balls on borrowed racquets well after sessions ended. When asked after the lesson what they thought about tennis, many children said "it was more fun than I thought." According to Statistics Canada and the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Institute, by age 17, the number of girls staying in sport is cut in half. Even worse, less than 10 per cent of girls aged 12 to 17 meet the 60 minute daily exercise requirement, whereas boys the same age are four times more likely to meet it (33 per cent).
"Everyone feels so welcomed and safe here and it's just a good experience for everyone who comes through the door," says Danielle Smith, founder and director of A Love of Tennis. A Love of Tennis is an organization which has proudly dedicated itself to providing free tennis lessons for the community for over 20 years. Just recently, in alignment with Tennis Canada's Girls. Set. Match equity program, the charity has included initiatives to increase the number of women and girls participating in tennis and in sport at large. Among them is the "slice" program, a free, weekly tennis lesson designed for boys and girls aged 12 to 17 and is an hour and a half in duration. Smith intends to promote these lessons for more teenage girls, rather than boys in the area, as she believes adolescent girls are not walking through the doors as much. This is reflected in the high sport dropout rate, especially between the ages of 16 and 18. "There's a big gap between age 16 and 18 (...) they aren't playing; they quit," Smith says. "So that's what I'm working on changing." Emma, who plays both ringette and tennis, is a teenager who attends the lessons every week. She explains what she likes about the organization's slice program. "Anyone can just come and it's perfect for anyone learning to play tennis (...) and it's fun too," she says. Emma plays ringette, tennis and volleyball with her friends, but when comparing classmates, Emma says the boys in her class are more likely to participate in sports than the girls. "Most of them (girls) I know don't really do sports teams, they mostly do activities, but the boys do sports like soccer or running." Juliet, Emma's friend and a slice program participant who also plays ringette and tennis, explains why she likes the program. "I like it because it's not super long, it's just an hour and a half, and it's something to do on a night where I don't really have anything to do," she says. "Instead of being in bed, watching TV, I'm doing something active." According to data collected from Participaction, youth aged 12 to 17 are the most sedentary group of people, spending about 10 hours a day not doing anything active. A Love of Tennis challenges this by encouraging parents to register their kids into the program, with the lack of expenses aiding in bringing in new youth tennis players. Besides helping promote physical activity, Danielle believes there is a kind of social boost that comes from participating in free tennis lessons, something the teens tend to value. "It brings friends together, so they're social, and the girls especially like the social more than playing," she says. "We allow them just to be themselves, play with each other, you know, have fun." In addition to free weekly tennis lessons for adolescents, the organization hosts team tennis tournaments over the weekend, where children compete as a team against others, typically playing doubles. There they get a chance to make new friends, learn more about tennis rules and skills, as well as boost their self confidence. For girls who accumulated tennis experience, either from participating in A Love of Tennis' programs or from personal experience, they are given the opportunity to work or volunteer with the organization firsthand, either as instructors or helpers. Whether as a coach or a 'ball picker-upper,' girls get a chance to be directly involved in sport, even from simply giving tips on technique or helping kids find the right racquet size. Girls like Mariym and Rachel, who were both former participants turned instructors, took advantage of getting involved in tennis. Danielle spoke about how being involved can change a girl's life, highlighting Mariym's experience being around tennis and how that ultimately helped her in the long run. "She didn't know tennis at all when she came and she learnt it." "She learned to teach it and developed so much self confidence," she said. As seen with Mariym, Emma and Juliet, sport can evidently play a role in amassing social confidence and contributing to physical fitness, but what more can it do for young girls? To Emma, it can build character. "For sports, I'm more determined to do good or play my position well, so if I didn't play sports, I wouldn't be as determined," she says. "Also, it's really good for my mental state and can help for future struggles," Emma says as she explains how sport helped her learn how to accept losses and create resilience. To Juliet, sport teaches particular athletic skills she wouldn't have learned anywhere else, with emphasis on early childhood athletic development. "(Without sports) I wouldn't know how to do anything and it'd be hard," referring to how it would be challenging to participate in physical activities without sport as a precursor. Regardless of what skills or athletic abilities are learned or how many friends are made on the court, A Love of Tennis ensures all girls have a chance to continue active participation, renew it or even start it from scratch, with free weekly tennis lessons being just the beginning to combat the existing dropout rates. |
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