After our video crossed 115,000+ views across social platforms, BallBack grew faster than at any point in our history. We've now recycled or repurposed 60,000+ tennis balls across 40+ partnered facilities.
Here's a general update on what has happened recently inside BallBack: new facilities, new chapters, and a lot more people who care about where dead tennis balls end up.
60,000+
Balls recycled or repurposed
40+
Partnered facilities
170+
Active members
The Update
Where BallBack stands today
To date, BallBack has recycled 60,000+ balls across 40+ partnered facilities. We've received grants totaling over $11,000, and we currently have 170+ active members across the United States and beyond. 16 chapter leaders run pickups in their own cities, and more are launching this fall.
Over 125 million tennis balls hit U.S. landfills every year, and a single ball takes roughly 400 years to break down.
The Mission
Give dead tennis balls a new life
Our mission is simple: give dead tennis balls a new life, and make tennis a little greener. We partner with local tennis facilities to recycle theirs completely for free. No contract, no fee, no staff time beyond emptying a box now and then.
Once collection boxes are full, each chapter leader picks them up and either partners with local shelters and youth programs or ships them to our partner facility, RecycleBalls, where the rubber gets ground down for court surfaces, equestrian footing, and playground material.
Behind The Scenes
Still trunks, not warehouses
We still don't have a warehouse. What we have is student leaders with car trunks, a stack of RecycleBalls boxes, and a group chat that never sleeps. The video helped a lot of people find us, but the work itself hasn't changed: load bins, drop empties, pick up fulls, stage the next shipment.
"BallBack is low commitment, but high return. That's the whole pitch, and it keeps proving itself."
, Prem, founder
What's Next
75,000 balls and more cities
The next target is 75,000 balls recycled. Getting there means more city tennis centers, more HOA communities, and more chapters launching in places we've never been. If you play at a court that throws balls in the trash, this is still the easiest possible win.
- To every partner facility that keeps a bin courtside.
- To every chapter leader running pickups in their own city.
- To everyone who shared the video and sent it to their club.
- You are the reason 60,000 is a real number and not a projection.
Join the movement
Whether you run a court, want to start a chapter, or just have a bucket of dead balls at home, we'll take it from here.