Hudson Chossek plays tennis to win. But for the 15-year-old San Marcos High School standout, every match, clinic, and lesson is also part of a much bigger goal: using the sport to help others.
Chossek, a fourth-generation Santa Barbara local, has played No. 1 or No. 2 singles for the San Marcos varsity tennis team all season, helping the Royals capture the CIF-SS Division 5 championship this year with a dramatic 85-81 games-won tiebreaker win over San Clemente. He is also a member of the school’s selective AAPLE Academy.
Off the court, Chossek has committed the entirety of his high school career to a simple mission: use tennis as a force for good. Last year, he founded Red Mamba Tennis Academy, a coaching business built around that mission — offering private lessons, semi-private sessions, group clinics, and seasonal camps, some for-profit and some run specifically to support charitable causes he cares about. He has pledged to keep the academy running, and its charitable work growing, through graduation.
A Mission Rooted in Personal Loss and Beliefs
Chossek’s commitment to fighting childhood cancer began after a close friend passed away from the disease. He has served on the youth board of a local childhood cancer foundation for several years, and he built his first major clinic around that cause.
Chossek’s commitment to supporting San Marcos tennis stems from the goal of making an excellent experience for everyone on the tennis team, gratitude for what the team has already helped him achieve and a desire to see the team do the same for others.
Over four days in the spring, he ran a camp for kids of all skill levels at the San Marcos High School courts — including a special adaptive tennis session for individuals with Parkinson’s disease — with 100 percent of proceeds going toward the fight against childhood cancer. That clinic alone raised roughly $5,000.
Making Tennis and School Accessible to Every Child
A central part of Red Mamba Tennis Academy’s mission is ensuring that no child is priced out of learning the game. Chossek funds scholarships for his clinics using money he raises through donations and through private lessons he gives on his own time, so that kids who couldn’t otherwise afford instruction can still take part.
His most recent clinics/camps reflected that commitment directly: of the 20+ participants, several played on scholarship. From the proceeds of his most recent camp, Chossek donated $1,000 to the San Marcos Booster Club to help support the tennis program that helped shape his own game.
In total, Chossek’s clinics have now raised more than $6,000 for charitable causes. These funds have directly supported childhood cancer research, aided the San Marcos tennis program, and successfully funded school supplies for more than 100 children in the Philippines who otherwise struggle to afford basic educational materials. He’s also enabled local children who would otherwise struggle to afford sports clinics to “get in on the fun.”
Looking Ahead
Chossek plans to continue offering clinics throughout his high school career and is inviting Santa Barbara families interested in enrolling their kids to reach out directly. He is also actively seeking partnerships with other Santa Barbara nonprofits interested in teaming up on future fundraising clinics.
“I want kids to be able to learn tennis no matter what their family can afford, and I want to keep using my clinics to help causes that matter — like the fight against childhood cancer,” Chossek said. “This isn’t a one-time thing for me. I’m planning on doing this for all four years of high school.”
Families interested in future Red Mamba Tennis Academy privates, semi-privates, clinics, camps, hitting or nonprofits interested in a fundraising partnership, can contact Hudson at redmambatennisacademy@gmail.com.