Montclair High School rising senior Sayan Goodrich (right) and students who participated in the Baseline Buddies show off their tennis racquets as part of the clinic this past spring. Goodrich started the program in 2025 and is looking to grow it even more next spring. Goodrich has been helped by a couple fellow Montclair High School students. (BASELINE BUDDIES)
Sayan Goodrich suffered a tough wrist injury a couple of years ago that sidelined her tennis playing at Montclair High School.
As a sophomore, she wasn’t able to play competitive tennis while undergoing physical therapy. But instead of lying around, she decided to put her skills on the court to use.
The result was the Baseline Buddies, a free program to help kids in kindergarten through second grade learn and improve at tennis.
“Before I injured my wrist, I was playing tennis four to five days a week,” said Goodrich. “Once I injured my wrist, I wasn’t allowed to compete while still doing PT (physical therapy). That’s when I realized how much I missed being out on the court and having that outlet. It really got me thinking about how lucky I was to be able to play tennis at all, and how some kids may not ever get the chance to play.”
Kernel of an Idea for Baseline Buddies
A group of Montclair kindergarten to second graders shows off their certificates after being part of the Baseline Buddies program that teaches the sport at Nishuane tennis courts. (BASELINE BUDDIES)
Goodrich said she came up with the idea of the program after driving by the tennis courts across from Nishuane Elementary School.
“Driving by Nishuane one day, seeing the courts, and remembering the afternoon explorers programs I used to participate in made me wonder if they might want to also offer tennis,” said Goodrich. “That’s when I decided to reach out to Mr. (Eric) Eder (Nishuane physical education teacher) to see if he thought it was a good idea. Once I spoke to Mr Eder, everything just took off; he was so excited and so encouraging. He gave me the best advice and he just inspired me to keep working to make it all come together. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
In the first year of Baseline Buddies, Goodrich had six children in the program in 2025, but that number doubled this past spring to 12. She expects even more in 2027, as the numbers were capped this season because the Montclair High School boys tennis team needed to use the Nishuane Courts and the disrepair of the Mountainside Tennis Courts on Upper Montclair Avenue.
Tennis Program Completed Successfully
Montclair High School rising senior Sayan Goodrich (left) and Robert Eder, Nishuane Elementary School physical education teacher, are shown with Montclair students who participated in the Baseline Buddies program this past spring. (BASELINE BUDDIES)
For this season, Baseline Buddies was held from April 23 to June 11, with part of the season held in the Nishuane School gym.
Goodrich received plenty of help from tennis coaches, her former coach Jose Funes and her current coach Bob Bynum. She also met Andres Sanchez, a representative of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). In addition, Goodrich started a GoFundMe page to support the program, which included the children getting their own tennis racquets.
Goodrich spoke to the Montclair Board of Education in June to share the impact, growth, and vision for how student-led initiatives like Baseline Buddies can expand opportunities for younger students throughout the district.
The rising Montclair senior met with Sanchez, and there is a possibility that the USTA tennis venue services grant could help pay almost half the costs to repair the Mountainside Tennis Courts on Upper Mountain Avenue. The Mounties boys tennis team needed to play at Nishuane because the Mountainside courts were out of service.
Grant to Repair Mountainside Courts
A group of Baseline Buddies is shown at the Nishuane tennis courts in Montclair. Montclair High School rising senior Sayan Goodrich started the program in 2025 and plans to grow it further next spring. Goodrich has been helped by a couple of fellow Montclair High School students. (BASELINE BUDDIES)
“Not only would the high school benefit by being able to use them again, but this would enable Baseline Buddies to get back out on the courts for the whole season,” said Goodrich. “I thought this grant could be great for our entire community.”
The rising Montclair senior also had some fellow high school mentors who helped her out, including Riley Hacking, who was her doubles partner, in the first year of the program. Both high school mentors, Lily Dembrow and Zoe Isaacs, joined the program this past spring.
Goodrich is looking to get back on the court this fall for her senior year at Montclair High School and to have an even bigger Baseline Buddies program next spring to continue the clinic’s upward trajectory.
According to the USTA study this year, the sport of tennis added 200,000 new players recently from 6-to-17-years-old.
And the rising Montclair High School senior is just helping to give more access to the sport in the township.
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