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CASE Grand Slam Tennis Jam Celebrates Impact of Tennis on Area Youth

Students from Ezekiel Cullen Middle School sport their new United States Tennis Association caps at the Grand Slam Tennis Jam on April 6, 2009. Later this month, several Cullen students enrolled in the Cooperative for After-School Enrichment After-School Tennis Association will travel to Washington, D.C. and speak to members of Congress about the importance of after-school programs and how they positively affect teenagers' lives

Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE) student Nathaniel Grant, 14, changed his mind about tennis as a sport after trying it out in his after-school program at Ezekiel Cullen Middle School. His once-ambivalent feelings about tennis were replaced with positive thoughts about a sport that requires stamina, strategy, and strength.

“My after-school tennis program has helped me think about more than drugs and gangs,” Grant said. “It let me see other possibilities and gave me something to reach for.”

Grant and 300 of his peers gathered for the CASE Grand Slam Tennis Jam on April 6, 2009, to celebrate their tennis successes at the Homer Ford Tennis Center at MacGregor Park. The event included a proclamation and visit from Houston Mayor Bill White, with the students becoming VIP guests afterwards at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club.

A collaborative called the CASE After-School Tennis Association—co-sponsored by the United States Tennis Association—gives inner-city students in after-school programs the chance to learn tennis fundamentals and develop into quality players. The three-year-old program currently provides opportunities for about 1,000 CASE students in 46 schools (28 elementary and 18 middle) in eight area school districts. Nineteen of those schools are HISD campuses.

The Houston Tennis Association and the Zina Garrison All Court Tennis Academy work locally with CASE to provide instructors and coordinate programming with each campus. The USTA QuickStart Tennis curriculum is used for elementary students, and USTA provides training for all CASE After-School Tennis Association instructors.

Funding for the three-year, model program is provided by matching funds from CASE and USTA totaling $360,000. Over three years, a total of 62 schools in Harris County have participated in the program. Students receive an average of four hours of tennis instruction each week.

Students attending the event this year hail from Aldine, Alief, Clear Creek, Houston, Pasadena, and Spring Branch ISDs. The five participating campuses from HISD are Cullen Middle School; Blanche Bruce, Nat Q. Henderson, and Walnut Bend Elementary Schools, and the Bellfort Academy. State charter school Amigos Por Vida also participates.

“This alliance is not only a means of teaching tennis to students, but a collaborative effort in providing a safe and nurturing environment that keeps kids off the streets, helps working families and supports the mission of the school system,” USTA Director of Outreach and Advocacy Barry Ford said. “This event is a wonderful opportunity for the participants to gain hands-on experience.