Do Good on Purpose
Do Good on Purpose is a narrative interview podcast exploring the defining social challenges of our time, and the leaders working to solve them.
Hosted by Dorothy Stuehmke, former U.S. diplomat and social impact leader, the show features thoughtful conversations with changemakers across philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, and global social innovation.
Each episode connects listeners to the Do Good on Purpose Giving Circle, creating a direct pathway for listeners to support the solutions discussed on the show.
This is a podcast about modern generosity, social impact, and turning insight into action.
Because change rarely happens by accident.
It happens when people decide to Do Good on Purpose.
Learn more about the Giving Circle: https://tinyurl.com/DoGoodonPurposeGivingCircle
Do Good on Purpose
From Pro Tennis to Harlem: Katrina Adams on Using Sport to Change Lives | HJTEP
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Every kid has talent. The question is whether they ever get the discipline, mentorship, and opportunity to discover how far it can take them.
In Episode 9, Dorothy Stuehmke speaks with Katrina Adams, President and Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program (HJTEP), about what it truly takes to turn access into opportunity - and how tennis as a sport can be a powerful tool for building leaders.
Katrina shares her own journey, from picking up a racket at age six in a Chicago parks program, to a celebrated career on the WTA Tour with 20 career doubles titles, to becoming the first African American President, Chairman, and CEO in USTA history. Today, she's bringing that same belief in access and excellence back to the young people of Harlem through HJTEP, where she's grown enrollment to over 1,000 participants and the organization's operating budget to more than $1 million.
Together, Dorothy and Katrina explore:
- Why talent is everywhere, but discipline, mentorship, and opportunity are not - and what it takes to close that gap
- How HJTEP uses tennis as an entry point to build character, education, and lifelong opportunity for Harlem's young people
- What Katrina's career on the court and in leadership taught her about access, representation, and resilience
- How communities, volunteers, and donors can help HJTEP open doors for the next generation
This episode connects to the Do Good on Purpose Giving Circle, where you can directly support HJTEP and its mission to give every young person in Harlem the chance to discover what they're capable of.
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Welcome to the Do Good On Purpose podcast, where you can listen to leaders discussing solutions to the most depressing challenges in our world, and where you can also support them by donating through the show's giving circle. Through the link in the show notes. Think of a giving circle as giving together, combining what each of us can contribute so that we give bigger, that we give better, and we make a much greater impact than any one of us could ever make alone. Today I want to talk about a kid and a coach and the belief that talent deserves a chance. Sometimes that's all it takes to change the entire trajectory of a young person's life. Every kid has a talent that is undeniable. The question is whether they ever get the discipline, mentorship, and opportunity to find out how far it can take them in life. My guest today is Katrina Adams, the president and executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program. And she's also the first black president, a chairman, and CEO in the history of the United States Tennis Association. Katrina's own path began at the age of six in a Chicago Parks program where she picked up a racket for the first time. And that decision took her to Northwestern and on to the professional women's tennis association tour, where she won 20 career doubles titles and eventually into a role that she could never have imagined growing up. What stands out the most about Katrina is how she's used everything the sport gave her disciplined, confident access, and she's turned it into a lifelong commitment to building those same things now in the young people of Harlem. This episode is personal for me. I was actually part of the HJTEP myself as a high school student here in New York City. And it's also where my husband and I first met. And years later, it's also where our son began his own tennis journey too. Katrina Adams joins us now. Katrina, thank you so much for being with me today on the Do Good on Purpose podcast. It's so fantastic to have you. I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to speak with you and how excited I've been to have you on this podcast. You are an incredible leader in the tennis education and youth development space. You're not only a former pro tennis player, you're also an executive leader. You've led the USTA at the highest level. You're also leading now the Harlem Junior Tennis Education Program, which you've done on and off for many years. You're also an author. We're going to get into your book a little bit. And you're a huge advocate for diversity and equity. So thank you so much for being here with me today.
SPEAKER_00Dorothy, thank you for having me. It's my pleasure.
SPEAKER_01Wonderful. So I want to actually start the conversation with youth development. I want to understand from you because you've worked at the intersection of tennis and education and youth and advocacy, so many different angles here. And I'd love to hear from you your take on what youth need today to thrive.
SPEAKER_00Well, again, thank you for having me allow me to be on this platform to share my thoughts. You know, I'm someone who developed through sports, through the sport of tennis in particular. And knowing what youth need, in my opinion, is an opportunity one to be around other kids, to be able to express themselves, to feel free about their expression. And I think sport is the perfect way for these kids to be able to do that. And so in my program, the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, you know, we provide tennis, education, and wellness. And through tennis, these kids are able to go out and learn a new skill, skills that are life skills that they can take with them through the rest of their lives. They're learning how to one, communicate. They're learning how to develop their hand-eye coordination. They're learning how to build their self-confidence, their self-esteem. They're also learning how to develop their ways of communicating and dealing with adversity. You know, tennis is about a sportsmanship, calling your own lines. Sometimes you're going to get a bad line call. But I think in sport, in any sport in particular, it's just, you know, fair game, right? How do you play with one another in a fair way? It's not really about winning and losing all the time. It's really about learning together and having fun, first and foremost. But how do you win fair and how do you lose fair? So through life, when you win, it's a feel-good moment, right? You want to keep winning. And, but it's about that development. What did I do to win? What are the skills that I learned? And what is the technique that I learned? It's about repetition in sport. So when you're being repetitive in everything that you're doing, um, you're getting better at it. Well, guess what? When you're in school and you are being repetitive and repeating something, memorizing, you're getting better at something and you're learning. So I think sport and education go hand in hand when it's when you're developing. And so what we try to do in our program and through sport in in general is the things that we're teaching our kids are the things that we're teaching them to be good at for the rest of their lives and understanding that, yeah, you're developing at every stage, no matter what age you are, but each level that you're developing, you're doing this throughout your life. So in school, it's elementary, middle school, high school, college, right? Same thing in sport. At each stage, you are learning something different, different skill sets, different repetition. And I think that's why sport is so important for boys and girls to understand how to um work hard, be repetitive, learn these skill sets and be better at something, but it's a feel-good moment as they move through and navigate um and communicating with with each other.
SPEAKER_01That's a that's a wonderful explanation. Thank you for that. Um, I couldn't agree more. My son is a competitive junior tennis player, and I and I see all of these things come out in him and that he's experiencing all of these things. It's also one of the sports, I think, that really helped him during the pandemic. I mean, it was one of the only sports he could play and socially distance, you know? Mm-hmm. During that period, he was able to maintain many of the friends that he had he had made through tennis and over the years. And so I also think about tennis as community, right? And um, I looked at your website and I saw the word family there. Something around the concept around, you know, we are family. I'd love for you to talk a little bit about what that means in your work.
SPEAKER_00Well, for us at HJTEP, which is our acronym, um, we consider ourselves a family. You know, when the kids, the kids define us as their home away from home. When they walk through our doors, they know that they are being embraced by another community, another family. You know, our coaches and our tutors, we know every kid's name, we know their parents' name, we know what school they're in. We know things about them as individuals, not just a tennis player that's coming into our program. And so they feel welcomed, they feel loved, they feel embraced. And when they graduate, they know that they have a place to come back to. Many of our coaches are actually alums of the program. They've gone on, even they've gone on to college and played tennis or gone on to even be in business in other endeavors, but they'll come back because they know what they got from the program and they want to be able to pass that on. So we feel that we are a family. We try to have our parents, we have a parents' association. We we just really got that going again this school year. Since COVID, we don't manage our facility. We have landlords and they've changed the rules since COVID. So they don't really allow parents in the facility on a daily basis. Um, they really don't mix adults with youth anymore. So we have parent observation days. So they're really only in there maybe every five weeks to really actually watch their kids in the program, which is not really conducive to how we would like for it to be, but that's the policy of the facility. So, you know, on those days when the parents are there to be able to watch the kids, they really do see the development of how their kids have improved. And they're actually able to comment on their behavior actually and how it's improved. And because it's the discipline of the sport also and the discipline that we're teaching them as well, that they're seeing an improvement, not only at home, but also in school. And so that's where that whole sense of community and that whole sense of family for us comes from.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Thank you. And I I've mentioned to you before that, you know, my son did go to your program in Harlem at the armory, and he still has maintained friends from that time period. So it is a special place. And that's actually where my husband and I met. I also told you that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We have a lot of we have a lot of partners and husbands and wives that have come from the program. So that's yeah, no, it doesn't surprise me.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't surprise me. And my husband really credits tennis to him being a lawyer now, the discipline that you talked about, you know, the discipline and the focus that you need to really compete and win and lose sometimes and be able to deal with the highs and lows of that. And so he really credits tennis to his profession now. And I'm sure you see that a lot with a lot of the the students and and the athletes who you've seen over the years train really hard and make make it in some way, shape, or form, whether that is they go to school for Division I tennis or they choose a profession that's, you know, requires a lot of discipline and focus. I'm sure I'm sure you see that a lot.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's uh, you know, I I heard Roger Federer give a speech recently. Um he did a commencement speech at Dartmouth a few years ago, and he talked about, you know, how he lost more points and more matches than he won in his career. And it's true, but you it's it's how do you bounce back from those and how do you get better? And I, as you mentioned, I played on the highest level as well uh on the tour, on the WTA tour. But it is, is how do you bounce back and how do you get better at it? And and I also just heard, I think the CEO of Citadel, he retired, but in talking about hiring athletes because they do, you know, they work hard, they know what it's like to lose and have to bounce back and recover. And so um, I have a friend that's in, you know, venture capitalists. They hire, they love to hire tennis players in particular because it is an individual sport, if you will, to a certain level until you start playing high school tennis and college tennis as a team. But it is about really a being a go-getter and and digging, digging in deep and working hard and getting those clients and wanting to win and understanding how to lose, right? And so I think it's everything that we put into our kids and we're instilling in them about accountability and responsibility. Those are the two main things that we talk about every single day. You know, being responsible, being accountable for your actions, getting here on time, knowing what you need to do before you get on the court, and being accountable for how you're training on the court and all the discipline that comes with it. And that's not just in tennis, it's in it's in sport, period. You know, all these sports-based youth development programs, they're all teaching the same thing. It's just in a different way based on what the sport is. And it's instilled in these kids differently. We only know, I only know what we're doing in our program and what a lot of other tennis programs are doing because I was raised through the sport and navigated it very well. But it's so important for I think parents to understand why they should at least introduce sport to their kids, whether they like it or not. It is important to at least introduce sport. If they don't like one, try another. No, they don't like that one, try another. And then, you know, navigate into arts and other areas, other, you know, other curriculums that may interest their kids. But I think it's it's extremely critical for our kids to be in this in this space.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk a little bit about you now, because you've talked a lot about leadership, you've talked about discipline, and you have this amazing book, Own the Arena. And talk to me a little bit about the title. What does that title actually symbolize and and mean in your work and in your life?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, own the arena can be anywhere. You know, it can be your office, your home, your car, you know, for me, the tennis court, what whatever it is. People used to say wherever I went, in any room I walked into, I own the room. And it was more about my presence of how I appeared and how I presented myself. And when I presented the book title, that was a title, Own the Room. And they actually changed it to Own the Arena. So it was more of a play on sport at the time I was finishing my term as president of the USTA and chair of the US Open. So, you know, stadiums, arena. So they said, Kat, you're bigger than a room. Um, you're more like an arena. And so I was like, oh, I kind of like that. And and an arena could be anywhere, really. And so, you know, the subtitle was making a difference, getting ahead and succeeding as the only one. And the only one for me was often the only woman in the room or the only person of color. I was on boards, uh, major boards. And, you know, being that only woman in the room, you know, was often, you know, was for me, because of tennis, and I think because of my innate confidence in myself, I never really had that imposter syndrome, if you will, because I I always felt that I belonged. I felt that I belonged anywhere based on me saying, own the room, right? But it was more of a sense of saying, okay, if I'm going to be here, I have to be prepared because I'm not going to let anybody run over me. And I'm going to make sure that they know that I know what I'm talking about. And so I also, you know, making a difference. I grew up with parents. I watched them be on several nonprofit boards and always involved. They were educators, teachers who advanced to be principals and vice uh assistant principals. And so I always wanted to make sure what no matter what I did, I wanted to make sure I was making a difference. I didn't want to just waste my time. So I don't do anything that I don't feel like I can't make a difference or I'm not making a difference. So, in the title of owning the arena and the subtitles of all the chapters of the 12 winning match points, you know, own the table, own your voice, own your courage, and so forth and so on. It's really about projecting your own personality and your own will on how do you perceive yourself and how do you go into different scenarios? And that's what the book is about. So it was more of a leadership book for anyone, any gender, any age, but it's also more of a memoir of my life, of how I grew up, how the sport really developed me, how everyone touched my life along the way, and how they impacted me and allowed me to really kind of grow out of a shell, out of just that junior tennis player on the west side of Chicago, um, out of an NJTL similar to Harlem Junior Tennis, and evolved to the highest levels of the sport and business with the USTA and the ITF and, you know, commentator, national coach. I did it, I did it all, every level of the sport. But that's what the book is really about, and understanding that, you know, you really do need to own your voice and own your courage and really own your identity, particularly if you are a woman or a person of color and not feel like you have to be in the background. And not so much be in your face and out in front, but know your moments. But if you're prepared, when you're called on, just make sure you have the answer or have the information that they're asking for, because that's when you get noticed. You don't have to be up front and and always, you know, thrusting information because that's when it's annoying. But that's what it's all about. I I talk about owning your your wins, your successes, owning your losses. And these are through my experiences through the sport, you know, and owning your possibilities. And and I think any any and everyone can learn from what I speak about in the book based on my experiences in life.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I I loved it. And I think you talk a lot about being authentic. And I think that that's so important as a nonprofit leader, you know, and and that's why I bring this up in this conversation because folks who are really interested in donating to the Harn Harlem Junior Tennis Education Program, they need to know who you are. I mean, I think a lot of people know who you are, but the book and you talking about some of the themes from this book really help uh bring a bit more context and and texture to who you are and how you lead. Um, and I think that that's so important. So thank you for sharing that. You also talk a bit about possibility, right? You you just mentioned that it kind of comes up in the book as well. The importance of young athletes and youth in general who need to have a role model to look up to, need to see what's possible. You can have all the access and opportunity, but if you don't actually know what's possible, you might not go for it in life. So can you talk a little bit about Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I, you know, I think the first thing is, you know, I got involved in harm during tennis because I felt it was more about me owning my obligation to reach back and pull forward because I came from, you know, a similar background and situation and program. And because of that and my opportunities through my profession of being that tennis player, and it opened up doors for me to network. And through that network, I got to where I got in other spaces. And so through that process, the possibilities became, you know, an open door. And that's what it's about for our kids, for them to understand if you are putting yourself on the right track, if you are listening, if you are paying attention, if you are getting that education, if you're learning how to network and communicate and create relationships, those relationships can become long-lasting, which create these opportunities of possibilities that can take you wherever you want to go. And I think that's what we are trying to teach our kids. It's not where you come from, it's where you have the opportunity to go based on the path that you choose. And so I have a quote that I end, you know, it's all my emails and I end most of my presentations with. Enjoy, enjoy the path that you lead and enjoy the battle because we don't know the path that we come from. We're born into a situation, but it's our choice to try to navigate ourselves out and find that path. And that journey is not going to be easy. It's going to be a battle, but you have to enjoy it. And then you can only enjoy it by making sure that you're working hard and knowing what you want your destination to be. And so that's where the possibilities can become endless if you're allow yourself to listen to others that are giving you positive information, of course. But, you know, I think that's where sport, again, is your baseline because of the people that are in there that are really trying to get you to understand why working hard, why discipline, why, you know, navigating the waters at such a young age allow you to make proper decisions because in sport, you're making split-second decisions, right? Constantly, with tactics, with technique, with movement. And those are the things that you have to deal with on a daily basis through life. And you've learned how to navigate that early in whatever sport you've you've chosen to play.
SPEAKER_01Um, I love all the analogies and and how sports correlates to life. You know, I I really, really appreciate that. You know, you have broken so many barriers throughout your career. Um, and that's made you the leader you are. You also talk a lot about lifting others up along your journey as a leader, and that's what's made you so successful, I think. And you also talked in the book about um the game of tennis being not just like two people who are against each other in a match need to work together on some level. And so you have this in this philosophy of no matter where you are in whatever moment, you've got to find a way to work with people to get to whatever destination you're trying to reach. So can you talk a little bit about that and how that how that manifests in in your work?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, we talk about tennis being an individual sport, but you know, even when you're starting off playing and developing, you're working with the person on the other side of the court, on the other side of the net to keep the ball in play. So you're working as a team with someone, whether it's a coach or whether it's with another junior or whoever you're partnering with to rally to get to 100 balls, right? You know, hey, get 100 balls cross court. Or you're working with someone. Um, you're working on your own technique and skill, but you're still working with that person to keep the ball in play. So that's a team. You may be playing doubles. You're working with a partner on your side of the court. Um, you're moving together, you're strategizing together. Et cetera. So it's a team. Yeah, it's an individual sport. They keep saying that, but it's always a team. And so you take that training, if you will, and you're taking it to the next level as you are now in school, right? You're working on a school project. You're working with someone. You're working with a group to complete the task at hand that you have to present in front of a class or to the teacher, et cetera. So you're constantly working together to achieve something. Now you have a job and you're working in a group, ERG, whatever it might be, or with just your project team to present something. And you're always working together. And if you are able to navigate that and work as a team and not always solo, you have a chance of being successful and to rise out of that as a leader. Because even in each group, there's always a lead person who is saying, okay, they're the captain of that team that is really going to strategize and kind of say, here's how we're going to do things. And that's how you're constantly evolving from one level to the next, even throughout corporate, to rise to the top. And so I think every step of the way, you're learning how to be that leader, but also a team player that everyone rec recognizes and wants to work with and ultimately works for based on how you're communicating with your peers and with each other, even with the other groups and how you're navigating and communicating. So communicating, communication is definitely key and number one of how you're treating others.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Thank you. So let's take all of that and let's talk now about Harlem Junior Tennis Education Program. Let's hear about what's going on there. What's new? What's on the horizon? How are your programs set up? It's a little different from when I was there, I think. I know it's evolved quite a bit. So we'd love to hear about um how your programs are run right now.
SPEAKER_00Well, the fact that you have been you were there, you know, however many years ago, I think is awesome. So happy to bring you up to speed. We're 54 years young now. We actually just celebrated. We had our gala one week ago today on May 11th. Raised over a million dollars. Donations are still coming in. So those of you who were not able to attend the gala, feel free to contribute at hjtep.org. These are our unrestricted funds that support our tennis education and wellness components. You join the program for tennis, and then you get your education and wellness components that come with it. And we serve kids from ages five to 18. Our education, we work with kindergarten all the way through our high school graduates. And so we we do pre- and post-test assessments. And so our pre-assessments really allow our education department to understand what level your child is. So if they are deficient in any area of reading, um, math, literature, they know if they need tutoring, if they're on grade level, or if they are, you know, ahead and enrichment. And you can decide what you want for them if it's enrichment. Um we have college readiness uh programs for ACT, SAT Prep. We work with another organization called Chapman Education, which uh gives us some scholarships to her academy in Vermont where the kids actually go in August and they actually work on their college essays in August. So when they come back for the school year, those things are done and they don't have to they don't have to stress on them. But, you know, we're really working with our kids, you know, for socio-emotional learning. Um, we help with mental wellness. Uh, we have mental wellness uh workshops as well. So we really work with the child holistically because we want to make sure that our kids leave us ready for the world, um, not just ready for higher education. Um, because there are going to be some kids that decide that college in that 13th year, they're not ready for. Some of them like to go to trade school, some of them want to take a gap year just because they're not ready, particularly when we came out of COVID. You know, these have been some of the toughest five, six years for a lot of those kids who are just finally getting back on track with their confidence and self-esteem. And this is probably one of our better years, just seeing the kids emotionally ready to go out into the world. But we we were challenged the last couple of years with some of our kids. But that's where the funds go to support our program services for that. We have summer camp. So we have fall, winter, and spring sessions, and then we have our summer camp, two different locations. And then ultimately we're about to start. We've been we've been working out of the armory on 143rd Street since 1972. We've outgrown that facility probably 10 years ago, and we're now about to start a capital campaign to build our own facility. Um, this will be an expansion. We won't leave the armory because that is home, but it'll be eight indoor courts, six rooftop courts with six red ball pickleball courts, uh full, full supports building with our own education, classrooms, offices, locker rooms, uh fitness center, restaurant, a tennis center, but it'll be public, public courts for rental. We'll be able to have events and all kinds of things that anybody can come and rent a court, adults and kids alike. And we'll have tournaments, clinics, leagues, et cetera, hopefully be ready uh 2030, 31. Um, but we're just starting that capital campaign, and uh it's exciting times ahead for us.
SPEAKER_01That is so exciting to hear. Because I think when I was there, there were maybe four courts.
SPEAKER_00I think we're down to four courts. We used to have eight, and now we're down to four courts. Again, um, we don't manage the facility. So, you know, we want to control our own destiny. We want to have kids playing in the junior U.S. Open, hopefully in the next, you know, eight to ten years. And then ultimately the US Open main draw with our new facility and you know, allow us to really bring in some heavy-hitting coaches and mentors, et cetera, um, in the long in the long term. But you know, we'll be looking for major sponsors or naming rights for the new facility, corporate, you know, looking for corporate sponsors, et cetera. Right now, just even for the programming, and we need as many donors and grantors as possible to keep us going. And then even more so as we expand in the future.
SPEAKER_01How many um participants are you serving?
SPEAKER_00Uh, we are serving 1,200. We served more than 1,200 this last year, but we have expanded out into the community, um, into the schools. We're serving tennis in their PE as their PE classes. Uh, we do a lot of clinics. We did four clinics last year um in the community free clinics, um, averaging about 120 per clinic, um, introducing the the sport to uh Harlem Nights. But in our core program, in the indoor season, we can only serve about 175 because that's what the facility holds. And then we have our summer camp where we're able to serve an additional uh additional new hundred kids, about um, you know, so 300 in the in the summer with the other community programs that we're serving in in the summer that come to summer camp as well. But uh our core, our core group is only 175. But for us to be able to expand out and serve more than 1,200 this last year, um we're really trying to get our name out, get the exposure out. So when the new facility is ready, we'll be able to bring a lot of these kids into programming. Um, so they'll not only be getting tennis in the schools, but they'll be able to come and get a day of programming inside a facility as well.
SPEAKER_01You mentioned the parents aren't allowed in anymore, only on specific days to observe, but that there's also a parents association, which I think is great because the the parents need to be involved. My husband and I are like, it's basically our life tennis now for our son, you know. How how do you engage the parents and bring them along on this journey?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we communicate with them a lot via email or Zooms. Um we also have what we have, what we call a tournament team. So these are our advanced players that are playing tournaments. We're looking for sponsors for our tournament team because we, you know, a lot of the money that we're raising as well, or grants in particular, our kids can only get better by competing in tournaments and they can only earn an opportunity to get a college scholarship if they're playing tournaments and they're getting ratings, right? High ratings. But they can't really afford to go and play these tournaments week in and week out or travel. So we actually help subsidize a lot of their tournament entry fees. Tournament entry fees are $80 to $100 now, depending on which level they're playing. So we're helping to subsidize that. We're helping with their travel. So our parent association now is also helping to raise funds and creating some fundraisers. They've done some um drives with sweatshirts and branded sweatshirts and t-shirts and things of that nature. They do uh year-in parties for the kids, year season in parties or holiday parties, et cetera. So they are getting more engaged and creative in trying to do little small events outside of our major fundraisers. And that's how they are trying to be a little more engaged. But it's it's difficult when they're not in the building every day speaking to one another. So they have their own little meetings via Zoom, via email, etc., to try to make sure that that communication um is is uh you know continues.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you raised the cost of tennis and that you're subsidizing in many cases for for the top players because it is an incredibly expensive sport, you know?
SPEAKER_00Well, we realized that, you know, a few years ago, probably a few years ago, I would say 10, 15 years, 12 years ago, we had some parents where, you know, you you you find a program for after school program, right? For your kid to get into and um make friends and be active. And your kid starts to develop to be a player. And so I come to you and say, hey, you know, Michael is becoming a really good player. We want to start to put him in some tournaments. And you're like, tournaments? Well, what's that? Oh, well, you know, he needs to do this. He can really develop to be a college player. Well, I can't afford to do that. I just got him in here to be, you know, active and meet some friends, et cetera. Well, a lot of the parents that are getting their kids in our program are not putting them in there to be tennis players. They're putting them in there as an after-school program for the academics and this and that. And we don't want to lose that talent. So many years ago, we actually were able to get a sponsor that sponsored the team for five, made a five-year commitment. And then we had another sponsor for about three years. And then we haven't had that sponsor. So I've been scrambling trying to get grants to subsidize. But we really do need a sponsor to come in and and get behind us. It, you know, it costs us almost $200,000 a year to subsidize these players. Why? Because the costs keep going up in tournaments and, et cetera. But at the end of the day, it's worth it when these kids are earning these college scholarships to go and play in school, right? Which is worth over $100,000 for them to go and play for four years at a school. So I think last year they amassed, these kids amassed $1.6 million worth of scholarships collectively. You know, when you look at the tennis scholarships, the academic scholarships, the grants, et cetera, that they received. And so it's it shows that it's worth it, right? Because when you, even if your child doesn't go and play on a varsity team, but they have 10 years of tennis on their CV, it shows that institution that they have discipline and they have commitment because they are doing something three, four days a week of something like tennis. It shows focus, development, you know, et cetera. They're like, oh, I want that, I want that student athlete. I want that student at my higher education institution. And so it's so critical and important for kids to be in sport because it will help them on their college applications over a child that may not be in sport, because it's showing that they are active, that they have discipline, um, and that they have they show commitment to something year over year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for me, I think that number really kind of jumped out that 1.6 million as a metric in scholarships, that's pretty incredible. And when we talk about impact, and it's such a difficult word, I think, for many people to understand. What does impact mean? And I think part of the title of your book is making a difference. And I think when we can think about impact through those words, making a difference, and it becomes a lot more clear. Uh so that's one metric. What are some other ways that you look at success in your program?
SPEAKER_00Well, since 1972, we've had 97% of our kids graduate from high school, um, which is huge. I think 100% since 20, uh, I know since 2020, um, I'm not sure before that. We've really just in the last few years make sure that we're getting all this inf this data. We've had 90% that have gotten at least some kind of uh support, whether it's scholarships on tennis going into play further or academic scholarships. This is uh, you know, our our program has been successful for 54 years, and we're looking to be, you know, even more successful for the next 54 years, which is one of the reasons why we know our a new facility can only assist further and help us serve more youth. You know, I think we can quadruple the number of youth that we are serving in our new facility if uh if we can get this going and and raise the proper money. We have the location already. We have uh, you know, an LOI on the table. So it's just a matter of getting the money to uh to get it going. And you know, all the room are all from this from the facility. So I mean from the city with all the uh approvals that that go with it. But we have the renderings and we're ready to go. How many courts can you fit on the roof? Um, there'll be though eight indoor, there'll be six on the roof along with six small courts that can be doubled as pickleball courts.
SPEAKER_01That's incredible. I can't wait to see.
SPEAKER_00We'll have we're gonna have indoor tournaments, we're gonna have outdoor tournaments. That'd be great. Leagues, clinics, we'll have a nursery, we're gonna have a nursing room. It's a female that's designing this, so we're gonna have it all cut out. That's amazing. Those parents who want to come and play and have small kids, et cetera. So no excuse to not be able to come and get some exercise during the day before the kids get on the court.
SPEAKER_01I think that's great. And I think, you know, it's also about diversifying the sport too, right? And inclusion and inclusivity, I think, is so important in the sport. Talk to me a little bit about this because you've talked about it in your book a lot, and you're such an advocate to really bring this sport to communities, you know, that don't necessarily have access to it on a daily basis because it's an incredibly expensive sport and it's not everywhere. Tennis courts are not everywhere, especially in New York City.
SPEAKER_00That's true. I think so, you know, one of the things that uh in doing the research and and uh wanting to build this new facility, there are only 19 indoor public courts in Manhattan, and that includes the four at the armory. So this facility will be 100% public. I think there's 24 public outdoor courts in Harlem. So we'll be adding six to that. But, you know, when you look at African Americans in particular, being that that I'm African American and most of our kids are African American, we have 85% kids of color. That includes African American, Hispanic, and Asian. And you look at the professional players, particularly on the women's side, you know, in Coco Golf, Madison Keys, Taylor Towns, the number one player, number one doubles player, Halle Baptiste, who's now risen to 25 in the world, you know, that you turn on the TV every week and there's a there's a player of color that's on there, Layla Fernandez, who, you know, is winning. And so it's inspiring for our kids to come in and say, oh, did you see so-and-so play today? You know, Francis Yaffo, Chelton. It's it's great to now see a plethora of these players of color, you know, that are winning, learner teen. It's it's awesome. And so our kids are inspired by these players that they can see week in and week out. And so that's helpful. And so we want to make sure that they too have an opportunity to be those players one day. But yes, it is expensive. Our our program is a no-to-low cost. We offer scholarships, but even still, it's a registration fee. For our beginners program for 10 weeks, um, they come twice a week for each 10-week session, fall, winter, and spring. We always start with fall because we start with the school year for a new season. Uh it's $375. And that's for that whole 10 weeks, right? And each level is a little bit more because they're they're getting more days, more hours. So um $375, and then I think it's $525, and then our high performance um is about $1,500. But those are our best players. That's for 10 weeks. That's where you can go across the bridge and it's $1,500 a week. Yeah. It's so we say it's a free program because everything else comes with it. The the tutoring, the academic support, all of that is free. The fitness, nutrition, the mental health, all of that is free. It comes with the program. And we have parents that have multiple kids in the program. So it's kind of like buy one, get three free, get two free. We offer that. But we have to have, we we have a registration fee, one for accountability, if you will. Because anytime anything's free, you know, sometimes it's like, oh, you you don't really show up, right? But if you have some skin in the game, if it's $50, parents are not gonna waste your $50. Oh no, you're going to practice today. You're going to practice. You're not not going. So that's our way of saying, hey, you got to have some skin in the game. And if you can't afford it, we got you. But we'd like for you to volunteer. We need you to do this, we need you to do that. So that's why I work hard every day to raise money. You know, we're writing grants, we're doing fundraisers so that we can support these families, support these kids, and and give the give them the opportunities. And so at each gala, we have two seniors that speak. The two young ladies that spoke this year were phenomenal. One of them is going to Bucknell, the other one's going to Cornell. We had only had seven seniors to graduate this year. I think next year we have probably 15. You know, each year is different. Um, out of the ones, 70 that are in our core program. And um, yeah, it's just a it's a good feeling to hear their journeys, you know, from starting at seven, eight, nine years old in the program and how they came in as shy, shy students, and now they, you know, how what they learned and how we were able to bring out their personalities and their confidence, etc. Um, we'll have some of the clips on our on our website soon. We're working on editing some of the speeches. But uh it's great. It's a it's a great feeling, you know, year after year to see. And these kids come back every holiday at our holiday party with their college uh, you know, names on their sweatshirts, and you know, and they'll come back and speak to the kids. And it's it's a really good feeling for me to know that what I'm doing is is truly making a difference.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. So we're gonna end with one last question, and you sort of answered it, but this is your chance, I think, to just sort of restate and um get people excited to to donate. But for folks who are motivated by what you share today, if they choose to donate, where would their donations go?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can um donate at hjtep.org. It supports uh kids five to eighteen, ages five to eighteen. It supports your tennis development, their academic support, tutoring, mentoring, mental health, fitness, and you're helping them develop the the life skills that are necessary to be champions in life. That's our tag, building champions in life. It's not about building a professional tennis player, but we are making sure that these kids are ready to go out into the real world and have the executive functions that are needed to survive once they leave Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program. So uh feel free to visit our website, hjteep.org, to learn more about what we're doing on a daily basis. You can donate via um a DAF uh stock or any other form of uh contribution that you would like to give.
SPEAKER_01Katrina Adams, thank you so much for joining me and thank you so much for your leadership in the tennis space and youth development. You've you've done so much, and I can't wait to continue to watch what you're going to continue to do in the future. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Dorothy. Appreciate it.
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