COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 12, 2024 (USTA Foundation Press Release)
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.”
