With USTA Foundation, Frances Tiafoe helps unveil eight refurbished courts at Harvard Park

In tennis, it’s all about movement. Inside the lines, there’s movement side to side, up and back, each point an arduous journey to arrive in place and find space. Outside the lines, consider social movements; those powerful moments when tennis and society connect and trigger transformation, turning a sport of solitude into a community of lifelong friends.

Lifelong tennis aficionado Marty Woods is particularly excited about one such major shift that happened today at a facility near and dear to his heart. Woods is the executive director and CEO of the Pete Brown Junior Tennis Program, a USTA/National Junior Tennis and Learning Center (NJTL) located at Jackie Tatum/Harvard Recreation Center in south central Los Angeles. This venue also happens to be where, starting as a six-year-old, Woods learned to play.

On this summer morning, the ribbon was formally cut on eight newly resurfaced courts. “What excites me about these courts is now we have world class facilities right here in this community, so now these kids are on the same playing field as everyone else,” said Woods. “They can develop and achieve big out here.”

Many already have. During today’s ceremony, Woods was delighted to introduce a youngster he’s worked with, Tory Bailey. Currently on the varsity at Howard University, Bailey told the audience of approximately 250 people, “The people in this community have given me a lot.”  This was an echo of one of NJTL co-founder Arthur Ashe’s signature statements: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”

The new courts came courtesy of a $300,000 investment by the United States Tennis Association Foundation (USTAF), all part of a three-year USTAF National Court Refurbishment program to fund $3.3 million to support 250 court renovations in under-resourced communities across the country. “Without quality facilities it’s really difficult to have quality programs,” said Robert Howland, USTAF senior director, head of programs and social impact.

As a lively mix of music, thoughtful remarks, and tennis filled the air, all hosted by KJLH morning DJ Adai Lamar, morning flowed into afternoon and the courts rapidly filled up with dozens of players. Six wheelchair players rallied on Court 6. Twenty youngsters lined Court 5 to learn the fundamentals. Eight each hit back and on forth on Court 2 and 3. More filled the other four. Many simply enjoyed watching.

One participant, Jewel Greene, a student at Santa Monica High School a few miles west, trained for years here and was elated to play yet again at a venue she learned so much from. “Coming together as a community today is really bringing back those [childhood] memories,” said Greene.

Prior to the on-court festivities, Woods was joined at the ceremony by a wide range of notables, including Howland, USTA Southern California executive director Trevor Kronemann, various officials from the city of Los Angeles, and USTAF Fund Ambassador, Frances Tiafoe. Shortly after wielding a big pair of scissors to cut the ribbon, the man nicknamed “Big Foe” shared his thoughts on tennis’ life-changing qualities. “Tennis is an unbelievable sport,” said Tiafoe. “It brings people together. It’s one-on-one, competition. It builds character.”

As far back as when it hosted the 1932 Olympics, on through to the ’84 Games, Los Angeles has a long history of putting money from the Olympics into public parks. The same plan is in the works in advance of the ’28 Games, brought to life by such groups as PlayLA, a youth and adaptive sports program. Naturally, tennis has long fit into the mix, the city’s many public facilities representing a distinct blend of competition and community, passion and inclusion. As Howland said, “Facilities like this are really important to the tennis community because it makes tennis accessible for all.” Let the movement continue.