{"id":32863,"date":"2026-10-05T16:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=32863"},"modified":"2026-10-05T16:48:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:48:51","slug":"there-arent-really-that-many-schools-how-naomi-osaka-turned-her-fathers-haitian-roots-into-a-family-mission-to-help-children-years-before-her-tennis-fame-intern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=32863","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThere aren\u2019t really that many schools\u201d: How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134684956,imgsize-102813,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/naomi-osaka.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cThere aren\u2019t really that many schools\u201d: How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame\" title=\"How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame(Getty Images)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame(Getty Images)\">How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame(Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Naomi Osaka\u2019s connection to Haiti began long before she became a Grand Slam champion. Her father, Leonard \u201cMaxime\u201d Francois, returned to his hometown of Jacmel and started the Osaka Foundation with her mother, Tamaki Osaka, in 1999.<!-- --> The family built an education and sports centre for children in the community, creating a project that existed years before Naomi became a global tennis star.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>For Naomi, the foundation became more personal when she finally visited Haiti. Her first trip came in Oct. 2017. She returned in November 2018, just two months after winning her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Naomi Osaka saw her father\u2019s legacy firsthand in Haiti<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Osaka Foundation began after Francois returned to Jacmel, where he wanted to help children in his community. <!-- -->The foundation says the family set aside 20 acres for the project and initially focused on tennis. It later developed into a centre built around both sport and education. Children receive access to schooling, food, housing and sports opportunities.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>Naomi had never visited Haiti before 2017. During her first trip, she visited her father\u2019s hometown and met children connected to the family\u2019s work.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>\u201cI wanted to visit Haiti,\u201d Osaka said about her first trip, explaining that she wanted to see her father\u2019s homeland herself despite hearing negative comments about the country. She later said, \u201cHaiti is a beautiful little country,\u201d after experiencing the country firsthand.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Her connection grew stronger during her Nov. 2018 return. By then, Osaka had become one of tennis\u2019 biggest names after beating Serena Williams in the US Open final in Sept. 2018.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>The Miami Herald reported in March 2019 that the highlight of Osaka\u2019s trip was visiting the IOA Center, the elementary school her parents had helped build in Jacmel. <!-- -->The family continued to provide funding, uniforms and supplies, while the school also unveiled a new wing during her visit.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>Naomi Osaka&#8217;s tennis success helped extend the family\u2019s work<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Osaka later used one of her new commercial opportunities to support the centre. In March 2019, after becoming part of Barbie\u2019s Sheroes collection, she said she would donate her Barbie partnership fee to the IOA Center.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>\u201cI think that it\u2019s really important because, especially in Haiti, there aren\u2019t really that many schools,\u201d Osaka said at Indian Wells in March 2019 while discussing the donation. <!-- -->She said the money would help expand the centre, with tennis courts also under consideration.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>That donation connected Osaka\u2019s growing career directly to the project her parents had started two decades earlier.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/>Her Haiti work later expanded beyond the family foundation. In Aug. 2021, after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, Osaka pledged her prize money from the Western &amp; Southern Open to earthquake relief. She made the announcement before the tournament and said the devastation in her father\u2019s country deeply affected her.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"37\"\/>The same personal connection also shaped her Play Academy work. In 2021, the program expanded to Haiti, where it partnered with local sports organisations to create more opportunities for girls.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/>For Osaka, Haiti has remained tied to family, sport and the community her father chose to support. The work started in 1999, long before her first Grand Slam title, and later became something she could support with her own platform.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/international-sports\/there-arent-really-that-many-schools-how-naomi-osaka-turned-her-fathers-haitian-roots-into-a-family-mission-to-help-children-years-before-her-tennis-fame\/articleshow\/134684876.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame(Getty Images) Naomi Osaka\u2019s connection to Haiti began long before she became a Grand Slam champion. Her father, Leonard \u201cMaxime\u201d Francois, returned to his hometown of Jacmel and started the Osaka Foundation with her mother, Tamaki [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"How Naomi Osaka turned her father\u2019s Haitian roots into a family mission to help children, years before her tennis fame(Getty Images) Naomi Osaka\u2019s connection to Haiti began long before she became a Grand Slam champion. Her father, Leonard \u201cMaxime\u201d Francois, returned to his hometown of Jacmel and started the Osaka Foundation with her mother, Tamaki [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/naomi-osaka.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}