'I have joy when I play tennis': South Bronx tennis players love nonprofit program
THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) -- College tennis came to the South Bronx on Saturday.
Yale University and SUNY Binghamton faced off in a match at the New York Junior Tennis and Learning’s Cary Leeds Tennis Center. It was the first-ever intercollegiate match to be played at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center.
Eighteen-year-old Chantajah Mills is one of the success stories of the tennis center. The Beacon High School senior just won a full tennis scholarship to a Division I school, Texas State, after playing two hours a day, five days a week at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center for the last four years.
"It’s given me a place to practice, a place to call home,” Mills said. "It's given me a lot."
Gaetan Georges, a tennis coach, said that between 60% to 79% of the young tennis players in the program get college tennis scholarships.
More than 90,000 children participate in the New York Junior Tennis and Learning program at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center and in 30 schools and community centers across New York City.
It's the largest youth tennis and education nonprofit in the nation. To parents and the children, the no-cost program fuels their hopes and dreams.
"It gives him a lot of confidence," said Vida Urena, a mother of a young tennis player.
The match between Yale University and SUNY Binghamton was particularly poignant for 95-year-old Larry Leeds. His late son Cary played tennis for Yale before turning pro. He passed away at the age of 45, and his father wanted his memory to live on in the tennis center.
"I think of him every day," said Larry Leeds, a New York Junior Tennis and Learning board member. "This is a manifestation of the good he did by being on this planet, and I love these kids."
A young tennis player, 8-year-old Raymond Baldwin, added, "I have joy when I play tennis. I feel good when I play tennis. I love tennis so much."
To find more information about these tennis programs, you can visit the New York Junior Tennis and Learning website.