USTA Foundation Awards $25,000 To Local San Francisco Groups

USTA Foundation, the national charitable organization of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), today announced it has awarded Youth Tennis Advantage in San Francisco a $15,000 program grant. The foundation concluded its 2014 grant funding cycle by awarding $741,500 in grants to 44 organizations that provide tennis and education to under-resourced youth and people with disabilities, as well those organizations with a need for program infrastructure support.

In addition, the USTA announced that the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department/San Francisco Parks Alliance has been awarded a $10,000 program grant.

Youth Tennis Advantage is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving youth in inner-city communities through a comprehensive program of tennis and academic tutoring that promotes physical, educational and life skills. The grant will allow YTA to better track kids and measure existing programs, purchase 150 new Google tablets and provide field trips and workshops for both kids and their parents. Funds will also be used to make significant improvements in the year-round College Pathways program.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s (RPD) Tennis & Learning Center program seeks to improve the lives of area youth by providing programs to San Francisco’s most underserved communities by promoting academic achievement, health and wellness, and social development, all through the sport of tennis. Currently piloted in the Portola neighborhood, RPD is looking to expand its programming to two new sites in the Tenderloin and Bayview/Hunters Point communities.

For more information, visit: http://sfrecpark.org/.

The USTA Foundation program grant is a biannual national initiative that was established to award organizations that successfully combine tennis and education to give under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities the opportunity to play tennis and improve their academic skills in a structured setting. These programs also strive to help combat childhood obesity by promoting healthy lifestyles.

“The USTA Foundation is honored to recognize such outstanding organizations around this country, which greatly impact so many deserving students, children in need and the communities in which they live,” said Dan Faber, Executive Director, USTA Foundation. “Their amazing work makes a difference in thousands of lives across the country and truly inspires us all.”

To date, USTA Foundation has awarded more than $19 million in grants and scholarships to hundreds of programs benefitting thousands of children and adults through tennis, education and health programming, primarily through the NJTL network and also through efforts to assist Military Personnel, Veterans, and individuals with disabilities.