Kids Build Bonds Across the US-Mexico Border With Tennis
Santa Cruz County, AZ. -- "People have this thinking that everything across the border is completely different. But tennis is tennis." Kids living along the US-Mexico border have found a unique way to bond despite the divide-'playing tennis across the border as part of the Border Youth Tennis Exchange.
The program, which brings together groups of children from Nogales, Arizona, and their sister city across the border, Nogales, Mexico, encourages children to form bonds of friendship, break down stigmas and stereotypes, and help kids stay active through the sport of tennis.
Marilu Portillo, one of the program's participants loves tennis and the connections she's made through the group's many excursions across the border. "People have this thinking that everything across the border is completely different, but tennis is tennis. They have the same points, same rules, same nets, same racquets," she says.
