Three seventh‑grade students who said they play tennis presented a petition to the Pelham board on Nov. 5 asking the district to create a modified tennis program for seventh and eighth graders.

"A modified tennis team would give students our age the chance to represent Pelham, develop teamwork, and build skills before moving up to the high school level," said Ethan Krivka, identifying himself as a seventh grader at Pelham Middle School. Krivka and classmates Mac Alderman and Liam Seppler said they organized a petition with about 130 signatures and shared enrollment estimates: 15–20 boys for spring 2025 and a possible combined 30–40 athletes in 2026–27.

The students noted that neighboring Westchester districts — Ardsley, Hastings, Blind Brook, Irvington and Eastchester — offer middle‑school modified tennis and recommended starting with a boys modified team in spring 2025 (state rules, they noted, prevent a coed format) and expanding to separate boys and girls teams in subsequent years. They suggested grants, community partnerships and parent contributions as possible initial funding sources and asked the district to consider including the program in the 2026–27 budget.

Trustees thanked the students for a prepared presentation. "That was a very well thought out presentation," a board member said, and asked the students to leave copies of their materials with athletic director Joe Toombs so staff can review the request. The board made no immediate decision and indicated the proposal will be weighed during budget and program planning.

No formal vote was taken on the request at the meeting.