Community steps up after thief steals racquets from Minneapolis North High’s tennis coach

By ALLEN HENRY

Click here for updates on this story

    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minneapolis teacher and coach says a theft from his car almost put his team’s future in jeopardy.

Despite the current weather, springtime means tennis for North Community High coach Dane McClain.

But McClain says his spring break started this weekend with someone smashing their way into his car.

“Woke up in the morning Sunday to find that the back windshield had been knocked out and all the tennis racquets had been taken,” McClain said.

With practice scheduled for the next afternoon, McClain posted about the situation on social media and started a GoFundMe.

“We got 15 racquets donated, and then since posting this Sunday evening, we’ve raised $2,500,” he said.

McClain says the situation has been a teaching moment for his team as well.

“It’s a good reminder to know that we do have support from a lot of people when we’re in need, and advocating and asking for help, you know, sometimes we get lucky and people respond,” he said.

It’s a team that McClain says could soon grow bigger than ever, bouncing back from a theft that could have ended them.

“I’m feeling like maybe this can build some momentum to expand the program moving forward. Especially in regards, we got like 40 racquets now and eight tennis players,” he said.

McClain says with the extra equipment, he’s looking to possibly start a girls’ tennis team at North this coming fall.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.