MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — What starts as a bright yellow tennis ball flying across the court often ends in the trash after just a few hours of competitive play. But one South Florida teenager is changing that — one tennis ball at a time.
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Seventeen-year-old Max Shilt, founder of Bounce Back Balls, has turned discarded tennis balls into a community resource, repurposing more than 5,300 balls in less than two years for schools, animal shelters and other organizations across South Florida.
Shilt, who has been playing tennis since he was 6 years old, said the idea came after he asked his coach what happened to used tennis balls.
“I asked my coach where all the balls went, and he told me that they all went to the trash,” Shilt said. “After that I realized that something had to be done.”
In 2024, Shilt launched Bounce Back Balls, collecting used tennis balls from his tennis academy and finding new uses for them instead of sending them to a landfill.
“The name is Bounce Back Balls,” Shilt said. “I thought the ball bouncing on the court and they are bouncing back into life.”
His first donation went to his former middle school, where the tennis balls were placed on the bottoms of classroom chair legs to protect floors from scuff marks and reduce noise.
Since then, the project has grown to include more than 10 community partners.
“Since then, I realized that there could be so much more supply and demand and I can expand to more academies, more schools, nursing homes, animal shelters,” Shilt said.
One of those partners is the Humane Society of Greater Miami, where donated tennis balls become toys for dogs waiting to be adopted.
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“The future is filled with people with good hearts, and Max is a perfect example of that,” said Jossie Aguirre, executive director of the Humane Society of Greater Miami.
Seeing the impact firsthand has motivated Shilt to continue growing the program.
“It really showed me how my work has an impact in the community around me,” he said.
To date, Shilt estimates he has repurposed about 5,300 tennis balls, keeping them out of landfills while supporting schools and nonprofit organizations.
“Tennis gave me everything that it gave me, and now I’m trying to give back and match the points-40 all, deuce,” Shilt said.
Shilt plans to expand Bounce Back Balls to Gainesville, where he will attend the University of Florida to study accounting while playing on the school’s travel tennis team.
Those interested in donating gently used tennis balls or learning more about the organization can visit bouncebackballs.org or email [email protected].
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