105,000 Balls Recycled: Our Summer Recap

BallBack just crossed 105,000+ tennis balls recycled or repurposed. Six months ago that number was closer to 40,000. This summer is the reason it moved that far, that fast.

Here is the full recap: what happened between June and September, who made it happen, and what we are chasing next.

Summer is when courts are busiest, which means summer is when the most balls die. We planned around that. Instead of waiting for facilities to come to us, chapter leaders spent June and July walking into clubs, high schools, and public tennis centers in their own cities and asking one question: what do you currently do with your dead balls? The answer was almost always the dumpster.

From there it was repetitive, unglamorous work. Drop a labeled bin. Check back in two weeks. Box the balls, slap on a prepaid label, drive to UPS. Repeat. Multiply that by 23 chapter leaders across the country and you get a summer that moved more volume than our entire first year.

The biggest change this summer was not the ball count, it was the map. We went from a handful of Texas chapters to student leaders running collections in Washington, Oregon, New Jersey, Illinois, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Some of them opened three facilities in their first month.

A few that stood out: Eastside Tennis Center cleared 600+ balls in a single week. Edison High School and JP Stevens High School together pushed past 300. Lakewood Racquet and Sports Club paired with a local high school for 500+. Pretty Brook, Sunset Athletic Club, Foundry Padel, Stafford Tennis Center, and Lake Belton High School all came online with real volume behind them.

"Nobody at these clubs wanted their balls in a landfill. They just never had a second option. Summer proved that if you hand someone the option, they take it."

, Prem, founder

Not everything ships. More than 3,200 balls went straight back into use this year: youth programs, school teams, rec centers, and community courts that could not afford to buy new. Chapter leaders also set up free-ball boxes at local pet stores and dog groomers, and donated to animal rescues including Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida.

Reuse first, recycle second. A ball still playable for a beginner clinic should not become crumb rubber yet.

None of this scales without partners. RecycleBalls remains the backbone that turns our shipments into rubber for courts and playground surfacing. Alongside them, Eco Serve Tennis, serve2sustain, ReBounces, Rally For Tennis, TogetherSports, Racquet Sports Industry, and USTA Southern helped us reach clubs and players we would never have found alone.

And the funding side moved too. We are at $11,050 raised, which covers shipping labels, bins, and starter credits for new chapters. Every dollar recycles roughly 25 balls, so that money is not overhead, it is volume.

Next stop is 125,000 balls, which would put us at roughly one ball for every thousand thrown away in the U.S. each year. To get there we need more facilities and more chapter leaders, especially in states where we have nobody on the ground yet.

School is back in session, which is the easiest possible time to start. If you play tennis, know a coach, or just want a project that produces a real number instead of a certificate, this is the one.

Keep an eye on our Instagram and our newsletter for chapter spotlights this fall. If your club, brand, or organization wants in, email prem@ballback.org.