USTA Foundation Archives - World Tennis Magazine

The USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association Incorporated (USTA), awarded a $50,000 grant to the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Md. Professional tennis player and JTCC alumnus Frances Tiafoe presented the grant Wednesday at the JTCC’s GEICO Champions Celebration presented by Amazon and the Bisnow Family. The funds will help support JTCC programming.

The grant is part of the USTA Foundation’s Frances Tiafoe Fund, established in July 2023, which aims to support the foundation’s flagship National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network. The network, created in 1969 by tennis legend Arthur Ashe, Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder, provides under-resourced youth with free or low-cost tennis and academic programming, helping facilitate their success both on and off the court. As someone who grew up in the NJTL network, the mission of the USTA Foundation is personal to Tiafoe and pivotal in his tennis journey. He started playing the game at JTCC when he was 4 years old; his father served as the facility’s head of maintenance after immigrating from Sierra Leone in 1996.

Today, the NJTL network includes more than 250 chapters and reaches more than 150,000 youth nationwide. The Frances Tiafoe Fund is utilized, in part, to support chapters such as JTCC, which every year provides more than 1,400 youth with tutoring, tennis instruction, life skills training, college preparation and tennis equipment.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of everyone at JTCC,” said Tiafoe. “It means a lot to me to be able to pay it forward and help the next generation of kids have access to the same opportunities as I did. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to give back through the USTA Foundation’s Frances Tiafoe Fund.”

“For 25 years, JTCC has transformed lives through sport and education by providing tennis for everybody, and we are proud of the impact we’ve made in Prince George’s County and beyond,” said Ray Benton, JTCC CEO. “Frances is an incredible role model to kids everywhere, and it’s an honor to have him return to the place where it all started and help us move our mission forward.”

“Frances has turned his success on the court into a platform for advocacy, passionately working to ensure that under-resourced youth have the opportunity to unlock their potential through tennis and education,” said USTA Foundation CEO Ginny Ehrlich. “His commitment to opening doors for the next generation reflects not only his exceptional character but also his belief in the transformative power of sport and learning.”

To learn more about the Frances Tiafoe Fund and the USTA Foundation, please visit ustafoundation.com and follow @USTAFoundation on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Frances Tiafoe at the 2024 Miami Open (Photo by Justin Cohen Photography)

The USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association Incorporated (USTA), has awarded grants totaling more than $1,070,000 to 105 National Junior Tennis & Learning chapters (NJTL) in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The grants are designated to support under-resourced youth through tennis and education programs designed to improve health, build character and strive for academic excellence. This is an initial investment as the USTA Foundation will award approximately $4 million in grants in 2021.

Among those receiving grants was the Treasure Coast Tennis Association in Vero Beach, Florida. The NJTL chapter, run by former Baylor University varsity tennis coach Tim Palmer, is the organization that executes the youth tennis programming on behalf of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation, the charitable foundation of the U.S. Davis Cup captain and former top 10 star. The Treasure Coast Tennis Association conducts most of its tennis programming at Vero Beach’s beautiful Riverside Park tennis complex, the public park which is the site of where Fish first began to learn the game with his father Tom Fish.

These grants, targeted towards community programs designated by the 105 NJTL chapters, are anticipated to support 60,000 youth participants at the selected chapters, including 30,000 who are estimated to pick up a racquet for the first time. In total, these chapters will offer more than 56,000 hours of education and 95,000 hours of tennis activities, including the creation and expansion of after-school and summer camp programs. The USTA Foundation also designated $100,000 of the grants towards 20 new NJTL network members.

“We’re thrilled to provide grants to help these NJTL chapters fund their essential programming for under-resourced children during these difficult economic times,” said USTA Foundation President Kathleen Wu. “These grants are a reflection of the tremendously impactful work that NJTL chapters do every day in local communities.”

Cycle 1 grants cover the first of two annual grant periods. Applications for Cycle 2 grants will open on Aug. 2, with Cycle 2 grants ranging from $2,500 to $40,000. Selection is based on each NJTL’s stated goals, including the number of youth, implementation of educational curricula, mentoring, social-emotional learning, and improved tennis delivery using USTA on-court resources.

The USTA Foundation also recently launched the Rally for the Future campaign, the largest single fundraising campaign in USTA Foundation history with a $20 million target over the next three years. Rally for the Future is targeted towards planning and building the future strength of NJTL chapters, which are supported by the USTA Foundation. NJTL chapters provide free or low-cost tennis and education programming for more than 160,000 under-resourced youth across the country in over 250 diverse communities to ensure all children have equal access to participate in the sport.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A FULL LIST OF GRANT RECIPIENTS

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USTA Foundation Incorporated (USTAF or USTA Foundation), the national charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association Incorporated (USTA), utilizes the powerful combination of tennis and education to enhance the lives of under-resourced youth through its support of the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more than 50 years, NJTL has impacted thousands of youth across the nation, and today the network features more than 250 chapters that reach more than 160,000 young people annually. The USTAF supports these chapters by providing financial grants, scholarship opportunities, curricula, technical assistance, and training. USTAF raises money and public awareness through private donations, corporate sponsorships, foundations, and fundraisers, including the US Open Opening Night Gala, the US Open Paver program, and various Pro-Ams, to name just a few. To date, the USTA Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in grants and scholarships. For more information on the USTA Foundation, visit www.ustafoundation.com, or stay connected through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok (at @USTA).