@CanesMensTennis Invites PAL to Home Match
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team partnered with the Miami Police Athletic League (PAL) on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center, to invite at-risk youth of the Dade County community to watch a tennis match.
PAL is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on the elimination of youth delinquency in the Dade County area, through athletic and educational programs.
“This program is very important to us,” Sergeant Joseph Bermudez explained, who is also the program’s director. “We try to expose our youth to different sports to steer them away from spending time on the streets, where they could get into trouble. We show them that if you stick with sports and education you can achieve great things like scholarships and professional careers down the line.”
More than 80 PAL participants sat in excitement as the Hurricanes faced off against No. 62 North Florida. While cheering the Canes on, participants enjoyed pizza and were issued University of Miami branded rally towels and t-shirts.
After the match, head coach Mario Rincon spoke about the significance of the youth’s attendance that day.
“I was really happy to see the Miami Police Department bring the PAL kids,” Rincon explained. “Our guys really enjoyed having them in the stands and cheering for them. Hopefully they can come back soon.”
University of Miami athletics has enjoyed a decade-long partnership with the Miami Police Department. Each year, PAL connects with several University of Miami athletic teams to schedule games for kids to come out and watch the Hurricanes compete.
Miami will return to action as they head to Lubbock, Texas for a back-to-back against No. 27 Texas Tech on Friday, March 1 followed by a match against No. 69 New Mexico on Saturday, March 2.
For more information on the University of Miami men’s tennis team, visit HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM men’s tennis team socially, visit Twitter.com/CanesMensTennis and Facebook at /MiamiHurricanesMensTennis.
