From outside the fence at Delaware Park’s McMillan courts, it looked like a tennis lesson. Wearing bright orange sports gear and a focused gaze, a woman coached a group of young students through the basics of backhands, forehands and serves.

But what the folks from MicroBiz Buffalo’s Nets to Net Worth program hoped was taking place was the molding of inner-city youth into successful entrepreneurs of the future.

MicroBiz Buffalo, a non-profit entrepreneurial development and support organization, launched Nets to Net Worth in June. The program folds a financial literacy curriculum from Junior Achievement into several hours of weekly tennis instruction and practice, drawing parallels between both.

It came together through a partnership among several local groups, including the United Way’s CASH Coalition of Buffalo, the Olmsted Parks and Conservancy, the National Inner City Youth Organization and the Old First Ward Community Association.

“Financial education is definitely lacking,” said Jerry Turcotte, executive director for MicroBiz Buffalo. “Kids don’t have a clue about that stuff. But when you counsel small businesses, you find that many business owners have problems [grasping] finance, too.”

That’s why MicroBiz Buffalo stepped outside its core mission of nurturing small businesses to lay the groundwork for the next generation of financially capable small business owners, using sports as a vehicle.

“Many principles of sports translate directly to the financial world,” said Brandon Senior, programs and volunteers coordinator for MicroBiz Buffalo. “It takes a lot of the same discipline to be successful in sports and in life.”

During a practice Thursday, JordahnSummers casually strolled after the fluorescent tennis ball his racket missed.

“Come on, hustle up! Your partner is waiting!” shouted India Varner, the assistant activities coordinator on loan from the National Inner City Youth Organization to provide tennis instruction.

That simple moment, Varner said, was an opportunity to impart the importance of respect in group dynamics. It dovetails with other teachable moments, such as aligning the “cordial” act of “serving” in tennis with appropriate communication and etiquette in the professional world.

Earlier, over lunch, the group sat on the bleachers learning about the importance of playing to one’s strengths in the working world.

Summers, 12, already knew he wanted to be chief executive officer of a company someday. But he didn’t necessarily know what that meant before Thursday’s lesson on career choice.

“They’ve got me thinking about what I really want to do—what I really have to do to be a CEO,” Summers said.

Turcotte likened split-second decisions on the court to those made in working life, noting the inevitability of consequences in both.

Later lessons will draw similar connections among sports principles, such as risk and reward in investment as well as practice and discipline in saving.

About 10 kids currently are enrolled in the program, but there is room for more. Because both the tennis and financial portions of instruction deal with the most basic, fundamental concepts, new students can be added each week without having to make up lost time.

The program is free and open to children from ages 10 to 15.

Nets to Net Worth hopes to give youth the skills and tools to make good choices, and to open doors to new opportunities from which to choose.

“It’s all about choices,” Turcotte said. “In sports and in finance, you need to make the right choices to be successful.”