Broken Rackets was born from a love for beautiful courts around the world, and this one reminded us of beauty in its honest form. No proper surface or grandstands. Just people coming together for the joy of the game.
Broken Rackets arrived in Sumba, Indonesia on the first weekend of the year. We wanted to begin the year with something positive that felt aligned with why Broken Rackets exists in the first place. We have always been drawn to tennis courts around the world, to their beauty and role as gathering points. But this time the focus was not on aesthetics or perfection. It was on connection.
We partnered with Cap Karoso, a beach resort and farm in the Kodi region of West Sumba. Cap Karoso is about an hour’s drive from the airport and sits along the coastline, surrounded by raw landscapes, traditional villages, and open land. The hotel is beautifully designed and deeply rooted in its surroundings, but what stood out most to us was their commitment to community outreach and working with the local area in a meaningful way.
Together, we created a simple tennis experience for a nearby village. No permanent infrastructure. No perfect surface. Just a court, a volleyball net, a few rackets, and an open invitation.
The village was about a 15-minute drive from the hotel. When we arrived, there was only a patch of grass behind the village. With the help of the Cap Karoso team, the court was measured out and white lines were spray-painted onto the grass. The surface was uneven and there were bumps. For the net, we tied a volleyball net between two bamboo sticks.
We had a limited number of rackets and a few kids’ tennis balls. That was it. And somehow, it was more than enough.
We started in the afternoon, when the sun had softened a little. At first, around 12 or 13 kids gathered. We began with simple stretching and warm-up exercises, and by the time we took the balls out, more kids jumped in to join the fun.
From there, we introduced small games. Relay races and simple drills that did not require any knowledge of tennis. Then we slowly moved toward hitting the ball. How to hold a racket. How to send the ball over the net.
Eventually, we did a short demonstration of how tennis is played on a full court. We wanted them to see the flow of the game, the movement, the back-and-forth. As soon as we started hitting, more people from the village began gathering around the court. Adults, the elderly, mothers holding babies, all sitting around. People arrived on scooters and stopped to watch. What began as a small activity with a dozen kids turned into a full village moment.
There were easily 30 to 50 people around the court! Some were just watching, some laughing, and some even stepped onto the grass to try hitting a ball for the first time. Tennis became the center of attention, playful and accessible.
Sumba is a beautiful island. Rolling hills, dramatic coastlines, open skies. It is also a place where many communities face serious challenges. Poverty is widespread, access to education and sports infrastructure is limited, and opportunities are not evenly distributed.
This is why moments like this matter. Not because one afternoon of tennis changes everything, but because it opens a door and offers a shared experience. It creates joy where there is usually routine, and curiosity where there is often limitation.
In this afternoon, language did not matter. Neither did age and certainly not skill. The kids laughed when they missed. The adults smiled when the rallies lasted more than two shots. Everyone understood the basic idea. Hit the ball. Try again. Laugh.
Broken Rackets was born from a love of tennis and a love of courts around the world. But this court in Sumba reminded us of something important. Tennis does not need perfection to be powerful.
There were no proper lines. No official net. No smooth surface. The grass was uneven and the ball bounced unpredictably. And yet, this was tennis in its most honest form. People connecting through movement and play.
Cap Karoso played a crucial role in making this happen. Their team helped organize logistics, transport, and setup. More importantly, they approached the project with respect for the local community and a genuine desire to create something positive.
We want this to be the beginning, not a one-off. Broken Rackets is committed to continuing these kinds of initiatives by teaming up with local partners who understand their communities and share the same values. Tennis has a way of bringing people together.
This is the kind of tennis story we want to keep telling. The kind where tennis feels real.
