Chapman tennis team freshman empowers team with hat fundraiser

Matthew Dewy's determination and progressive approach despite setbacks inspires support for Chapman's tennis teams. Photos courtesy of Matthew Dewey

Empowerment is a great form of motivation that freshman Matthew Dewey from Chapman’s men’s tennis team is using to fundraise money for Chapman’s tennis teams by selling lightweight athletic hats. Dewey believes that the tennis teams deserve more money for their budgeting than what Chapman Athletics gives them, so he took it into his own hands to make this possible.

“Most college tennis teams don’t have to pay for string, new tennis balls, grips, Gatorade, etc., but we do,” Dewey said. “Sometimes, we’d have matches where we had to wake up at five in the morning to get there on time, rather than stay in a hotel. Hell, 3/4 of the teams that we played away matches against had multiple Play Site cameras, which are $12,000 each.”

Working alongside his father, they designed hats that say “Chapman University” to appeal to a population larger than the tennis teams.

Dewey worked with his father to design the lightweight hats.

“I chose to do lightweight hats because Chapman sells hats, but they aren’t hats that I would want to play sports with,” Dewey told the Panther.

Nico Bohrer, a freshman business major at Chapman, purchased a hat from the fundraiser, supporting the tennis teams after their successful season in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). 

“Considering that the tennis team is one of the most underfunded sports we have at Chapman, these hats are a great way for them to make more money and to be able to add to the budget,” Bohrer said. “They just came off such a good season, making the SCIAC semis for the first time since the format was switched. They really need more eyes on them, and I think that selling these hats is a great way to get those eyes on them.”

Dewey is committed to this process of trying to better Chapman’s tennis teams.

“I will keep trying to find ways to fundraise until both the men’s and women’s teams get the necessities that all Division 3 tennis teams should have,” Dewey said. 

Dewey’s influence is impacting many people in the tennis community, and many players and friends of the community, like Bohrer, are buying hats to support the fundraiser. 

“Honestly, I hope they run out of hats to sell,” Bohrer said. “I’m hoping they get to a point where they need to be creative and find a new product.”