Chapter 01 · Flower Mound, TX
A coach, a trash can, a question
After practice one evening, a varsity player watched hundreds of used balls get poured into a dumpster. He asked a simple question: if those are getting thrown away, can I take them?
Student-led · Est. 2024
Give every tennis ball a second serve.
Tennis balls take roughly 400 years to break down and cannot go in a curbside bin. About 125 million are thrown out in the US every year. We are a student-run nonprofit giving them somewhere better to go.
One month of pickups, headed to RecycleBalls
✦Trophy Club Tennis Courts✦Bridlewood HOA✦Wagon Wheel Tennis Center✦SMU College Tennis✦Dove Park Tennis Courts✦Oak Creek Tennis Center✦LB Houston Tennis Center✦Seay Tennis Center✦Brookhaven Tennis Academy✦Kiest Tennis Center✦Nelson Tennis Club✦Flower Mound High School✦Fretz Tennis Center✦Marcus High School✦Argyle High School✦Samuell Grand Tennis Center✦The Club of Riverdale from New York✦City of Grapevine✦Heritage Park✦Bob Eden Park✦Timmaron Bent Creek Neighborhood Center✦Airfield Dr Courts✦TNT Tennis✦Highland Park High School✦Coppell High School✦Beverly Hills Tennis Club✦Mel Stillman Tennis Center✦Delaware Valley Tennis Club✦McFetridge Sports Center✦Flower Mound Animal Shelter✦Leonard and Helen Johns Park✦Southlake Carroll Senior High School✦Byron Nelson High School✦Grapevine High School✦Knickerbocker Field Club✦Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida✦Pretty Brook Tennis Club✦Sunset Athletic Club✦Lakewood Racquet & Sports Club✦Lake Belton High School tennis✦Trophy Club Tennis Courts✦Bridlewood HOA✦Wagon Wheel Tennis Center✦SMU College Tennis✦Dove Park Tennis Courts✦Oak Creek Tennis Center✦LB Houston Tennis Center✦Seay Tennis Center✦Brookhaven Tennis Academy✦Kiest Tennis Center✦Nelson Tennis Club✦Flower Mound High School✦Fretz Tennis Center✦Marcus High School✦Argyle High School✦Samuell Grand Tennis Center✦The Club of Riverdale from New York✦City of Grapevine✦Heritage Park✦Bob Eden Park✦Timmaron Bent Creek Neighborhood Center✦Airfield Dr Courts✦TNT Tennis✦Highland Park High School✦Coppell High School✦Beverly Hills Tennis Club✦Mel Stillman Tennis Center✦Delaware Valley Tennis Club✦McFetridge Sports Center✦Flower Mound Animal Shelter✦Leonard and Helen Johns Park✦Southlake Carroll Senior High School✦Byron Nelson High School✦Grapevine High School✦Knickerbocker Field Club✦Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida✦Pretty Brook Tennis Club✦Sunset Athletic Club✦Lakewood Racquet & Sports Club✦Lake Belton High School tennis✦Trophy Club Tennis Courts✦Bridlewood HOA✦Wagon Wheel Tennis Center✦SMU College Tennis✦Dove Park Tennis Courts✦Oak Creek Tennis Center✦LB Houston Tennis Center✦Seay Tennis Center✦Brookhaven Tennis Academy✦Kiest Tennis Center✦Nelson Tennis Club✦Flower Mound High School✦Fretz Tennis Center✦Marcus High School✦Argyle High School✦Samuell Grand Tennis Center✦The Club of Riverdale from New York✦City of Grapevine✦Heritage Park✦Bob Eden Park✦Timmaron Bent Creek Neighborhood Center✦Airfield Dr Courts✦TNT Tennis✦Highland Park High School✦Coppell High School✦Beverly Hills Tennis Club✦Mel Stillman Tennis Center✦Delaware Valley Tennis Club✦McFetridge Sports Center✦Flower Mound Animal Shelter✦Leonard and Helen Johns Park✦Southlake Carroll Senior High School✦Byron Nelson High School✦Grapevine High School✦Knickerbocker Field Club✦Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida✦Pretty Brook Tennis Club✦Sunset Athletic Club✦Lakewood Racquet & Sports Club✦Lake Belton High School tennis✦Trophy Club Tennis Courts✦Bridlewood HOA✦Wagon Wheel Tennis Center✦SMU College Tennis✦Dove Park Tennis Courts✦Oak Creek Tennis Center✦LB Houston Tennis Center✦Seay Tennis Center✦Brookhaven Tennis Academy✦Kiest Tennis Center✦Nelson Tennis Club✦Flower Mound High School✦Fretz Tennis Center✦Marcus High School✦Argyle High School✦Samuell Grand Tennis Center✦The Club of Riverdale from New York✦City of Grapevine✦Heritage Park✦Bob Eden Park✦Timmaron Bent Creek Neighborhood Center✦Airfield Dr Courts✦TNT Tennis✦Highland Park High School✦Coppell High School✦Beverly Hills Tennis Club✦Mel Stillman Tennis Center✦Delaware Valley Tennis Club✦McFetridge Sports Center✦Flower Mound Animal Shelter✦Leonard and Helen Johns Park✦Southlake Carroll Senior High School✦Byron Nelson High School✦Grapevine High School✦Knickerbocker Field Club✦Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida✦Pretty Brook Tennis Club✦Sunset Athletic Club✦Lakewood Racquet & Sports Club✦Lake Belton High School tennis
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Balls recycled
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Chapter leaders
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BallBack members
$0
Raised in funding
/ On the map
19 chapter cities, 12 states.
Every pin is a student leader collecting balls from courts near them. Click a pin to meet the leader, or zoom out to see where we're headed next.
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Don't see your city? Start a chapter there
/ The story so far
From one trash can to a national loop.
Scroll sideways
Chapter 02 · The garage era
Balls everywhere
The pile outgrew one garage, then a few. Some balls went to animal shelters, some ended up under school chair legs. Teammates started collecting too, and the operation quietly became a network.
Chapter 03 · Going official
BallBack becomes a nonprofit
A Lead4Change grant turned a school project into a real organization, funding prepaid shipping so any court in the country could send balls in for free.
Chapter 04 · Chapters take root
Students run their own cities
Trained chapter leaders now run pickups in their own communities. In Manhattan, one senior ships roughly 750 balls a month and routes the still-bouncy ones to youth programs short on equipment.
Chapter 05 · A national loop
Plugged into a bigger network
Through RecycleBalls' North American collection network, our shipments become rubber crumb for new courts, playground padding, and equestrian footing. What started at one high school now feeds a system 10,000 locations strong.
Chapter 06 · Unwritten
Your court is next
75,000 balls and counting. Every chapter started the same way: one coach pointing one motivated student in the right direction.
Start a chapter/ Start here
Three ways in. Pick yours.
Whether you run courts, have a bag of dead balls in the garage, or want to lead a chapter in your city.
/ Got balls at home?
Request a free shipping label.
Individuals with a bag of used tennis balls, or facilities anywhere in the US, can ship them to us with a prepaid UPS label. We cover the postage. You print, pack, and drop off.
Running a facility? The affiliate partner program sets you up for recurring shipments.
Open the shipping label form
Form not loading? Email prem@ballback.org with your shipping address and we'll send the label directly.
/ The problem
125 million tennis balls land in U.S. landfills each year. They sit there for centuries, slowly leaking microplastics into the soil.
Most players never think about it. Most facilities have no system. We started BallBack because the fix is simple, free, and someone just had to do it.
N° 01
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Donated to youth programs
N° 02
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Partnered tennis centers
/ A trip looks like this
What a ballback trip actually looks like.
No staged shoots. Just a chapter leader, a few hundred dead tennis balls, and the courts that trusted us to take them.
Watch on Instagram● Real footage
/ How it works
Three steps.
Zero hassle.
01
We place a bin
A branded collection bin lands at your courts. Free. Zero setup on your end.
We coordinate with your facility, drop off the bin, and set a pickup rhythm that matches your court traffic. You never touch logistics.
02
Players drop in
No sorting, no cleaning. Just toss after practice and matches.
Balls go straight from the court to the bin. Our chapter leaders track fill levels and swing by before anything overflows.
03
We handle the rest
Pickup, prepaid shipping, and certified recycling through RecycleBalls.
Leaders box the balls, add prepaid labels, and ship them out for certified recycling. Still-playable balls get donated locally instead.
/ Founder
Prem Kamasani
FMHS Varsity Tennis
/ Origin story
"I noticed hundreds of balls going to the trash every week, and no one was doing anything about it."
What started as a small student-led idea quickly turned into real partnerships across DFW, and is now expanding nationally with chapters in New York City, Frisco, Philadelphia, and beyond.
Read the full story/ Circularity
Every ball finds a purpose.
01 · Recycled
Recycled into green gold.
Rubber and felt are separated and ground into crumb used for new tennis court surfaces, playground padding, and equestrian footing.
Donated to youth & schools
Still-bouncy balls go to underserved youth programs and school tennis teams that can't afford new gear.
Sent to animal shelters
Cleaned and dropped at local shelters as enrichment toys, including Flower Mound Animal Shelter.
Balls that still have bounce are never shredded. They go straight back into play at youth programs, schools, and shelters. Recycling is the last resort, not the first.
Want to send us your old tennis balls?
/ Latest pickup
Fresh from the courts.
Photos from our most recent collection run: bins on court, boxes filled, ready to ship.
Distribution day
A full run of bins, staged and headed out to partner facilities.
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← Swipe to explore →
/ Ways to join
Three ways to get involved.
N° 01
/ For tennis facilities with a chapter nearby
Operating Partner
Tennis centers, clubs, schools, and HOAs in cities where a BallBack chapter leader can handle pickups in person. Listing puts you on their radar.
/ Best for
- Facilities in our existing chapter cities
- Want zero-effort, full-service recycling when active
- Prefer in-person pickups over shipping
- Want to be featured publicly as a partner
/ Commitment
One minute to list. Chapters reach out when they're ready.
/ Cost
Free to list. Free bins, pickup, and shipping when active.
N° 02
/ For tennis facilities anywhere in the US
Affiliate Partner
Tennis facilities outside our chapter cities that want to recycle balls via prepaid UPS shipping.
/ Best for
- Facilities anywhere in the US
- OK with self-serve shipping
- Comfortable with ~5 minutes per box
- Want a low-cost, low-lift solution
/ Commitment
About 5 minutes per shipment. A few shipments a year.
/ Cost
About $15 a year for prepaid UPS shipping.
N° 03
/ For high school students
Chapter Leader
Sophomores, juniors, and rising seniors who want a serious extracurricular and the chance to build something real in their city.
/ Best for
- Sophomores, juniors, or rising seniors
- Live in a US city without an existing chapter
- Can commit 1 to 2 pickup trips a month
- Want a real EC for college applications
/ Commitment
1 to 2 pickup trips a month, 1 to 2 hours each. Four-month minimum.
/ Cost
Near zero. $60 in credit unlocks after your first shipment.
/ Journal
Stories from the court.
/ Questions
Tennis ball recycling, answered.
Are tennis balls recyclable?
Yes. Tennis balls are recyclable, but curbside programs do not accept them. BallBack partners with RecycleBalls to collect used tennis balls from courts, clubs, and schools and route them into recycled rubber products, youth tennis programs, and dog shelters.
How do you recycle tennis balls?
BallBack drops off a free collection bin at your tennis facility. Players drop used balls in instead of the trash. When the bin is full, we pick it up and ship the balls through RecycleBalls, where they are ground down into rubber granules for sports surfaces, donated to youth programs, or given to dog shelters.
Where can I recycle tennis balls near me?
BallBack operates chapters in Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Plano, Flower Mound, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Maryland, with affiliate partners anywhere in the United States. Any facility in the US can join through our affiliate partner program and receive prepaid UPS shipping labels.
What can you do with old tennis balls?
Old tennis balls can be recycled into rubber for sports surfaces and playgrounds, donated to youth tennis programs, given to dog shelters, used as walker feet for senior living facilities, or repurposed for practice. BallBack collects used tennis balls and routes them to the highest-value reuse first.
Where can I donate tennis balls?
You can donate used tennis balls to BallBack. If you have 100 or more balls near our Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, message @ballbackproject on Instagram for a free pickup. Anywhere else in the US, sign up as an affiliate partner and we will email you a prepaid UPS label.
