How John and Patrick McEnroe are helping to remove racial, social and economic barriers to success through tennis

NEW YORK—The Johnny Mac Tennis Project, founded by John McEnroe in 2010, is a nonprofit organization that aims to remove economic, racial and social barriers through tennis and in the New York City area.

“My brother realized fairly quickly that raising money for scholarship would be the best way to support kids who couldn’t afford to pay to come here full time,” Patrick McEnroe told TENNIS.com at SPORTIME Randall's Island. “Then it grew to helping school programs and the community. A lot of the kids who come here to play tennis have never even seen a facility like this, so it’s definitely making a huge impact on their lives.”

On Feb. 29, JMTP introduced their newest branch, the Young Professional Council, with a tennis mixer for all levels.

At the event, former competitors took to the courts, including Thomas Fawcett, a former Stanford player who defeated current ATP No. 28 Cameron Norrie during his collegiate years. His former teammates, along with former Yale Bulldogs and notable collegiate competitors, took to the courts in support of the council’s mission.

“Last year, we formed the Young Professionals Council which helps expand our reach through their networking, spreading the word about what we do and getting people to come to our events,” said Ryann Cutillo, executive director for JMTP. “For us the goal is to keep digging deep into the communities here. We want every kid in New York to have the opportunity to play tennis.”

The council is made up of eight members, each of which are donating their time as mentors for JMTP scholarship students. Sabrina Xiong, the president of YPC, was the first ever recipient of a scholarship, and went on to play at Harvard University before finding herself at the nonprofit.

“We’re always looking for more people to join, take leadership positions or just be a part of the organization, come to more of these events and spread awareness to their community and networks,” said Xiong.

“We also have a mentorship program which we're really proud of that I'd love to get more people involved in,” she said. “We have about 20 students from the JMTP scholarship program, all with very different interests. Some of them have either already committed to a college or going to that process now, some have no idea what they want to do yet but want someone to have casual conversations with, someone to provide unbiased advice.”

With a positive turnout at the event, including a special appearance by Patrick McEnroe, there will be more tennis mixers and YPC events to come.

Learn more about the Johnny Mac Tennis Project and the Young Professionals Council here.