Racism tried to keep him off the tennis court, but now a 93-year-old tennis star is helping others with their game.
- Dipnarine Maharaj has coached tennis for three decades
- Six of his children earned tennis scholarships
- He wasn't allowed to play at tennis club as child
Coach Dipnarine Maharaj teaches tennis at the Apollo Beach Recreation Center.
He's been teaching students young and old for the last three decades.
"Tennis is a great, great sport," Maharaj said. "It's a way of life."
Growing up as a boy in Trinidad, Maharaj wasn’t allowed to play the game at the tennis club because of the color of his skin.
"At the time when we were there, it was all British, and the club members were only white, no nonwhite," he said. "So you could ball boy there, but you could not play."
Instead, Maharaj learned the game by being a ball boy and playing tennis in the streets.
"There was no choice at that time, that is how it was," Maharaj said. "There was no choice."
Later, Maharaj built his own tennis court near his home and taught his seven children to play the sport. Six of his children earned college scholarships in the U.S. because of it.
Maharaj has been teaching tennis ever since.
"Well, that keeps me going," Maharaj said.
At 93, he said his body isn't up to playing the game competitively anymore, but teaching others helps keep him going every day.