Youth tennis league marks 40th anniversary

In the late 1980s, Lance Lee, then 8 and living in Mount Airy, was looking to try what may have been considered a nontraditional sport for a black male in the inner city.

With the urging of his mother, Lee made his way to the nearby Water Tower Recreation Center in Chestnut Hill and signed up for the National Junior Tennis League. Soon, thoughts of returning full time to football or basketball went on the back burner.

"There was little or no cost to play. You were given instruction, and you were competing in matches by the end of the first week," Lee said. "For me, it was a great introduction to the sport. It was the catalyst for my career."

Lee, now 31 and director of tennis at the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education center in East Falls, starred in what has been called the "game for a lifetime" at Central High and Hampton University before an elbow injury cut short his playing career.

While he didn't become the next Arthur Ashe, Lee, who has a law degree from the University of the District of Columbia, is one of the NJTL's many success stories. The seven-week Philadelphia-area summer program is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

"I'm not making a six-figure salary doing this," Lee said, "but I'm not starving either. I enjoy doing what I'm doing. I think I'm making a tangible impact on kids' lives every day. It feels good."

The local NJTL, the Arthur Ashe center's baby for the last 17 years, has also produced the likes of Rich Gannon, a St. Joseph's Prep graduate and former NFL quarterback, and Chris McKendry, an ESPN anchor who honed her skills in the 1980s on courts in the Somerton and Morrell Park sections.

"It was a great experience," said McKendry, who was an NJTL instructor at Picariello Playground. "As a young girl, I played every sport available to me. I truly loved team sports above all else. The NJTL introduced tennis in a team format. It was brand new to me."

The NJTL also introduced McKendry, an Archbishop Ryan graduate, to one of her closest friends, Tania Sawchak. The two played tennis at Drexel. Sawchak is now an area teaching pro.

In this year's program, which began June 28 and will end Aug. 13 with an afternoon celebration at the Arthur Ashe center, there are about 1,100 participants, ages 8 to 18, at 42 recreation centers in Philadelphia, Norristown, Ardmore, and Camden.

"It's a grassroots program that reaches a lot of kids and develops in them a love for the game of tennis," said Kenny Holdsman, the Arthur Ashe center's president for the last 20 months.

Youngsters play at one of three levels: novice, intermediate, or advanced. The cost is $195 per player ($250 for two in a family; $300 for three or more in a family). Scholarships are available for those whose parents or guardians have incomes below the federal poverty line.

"Our policy is to never turn down a kid for financial reasons," said Holdsman, 42.

The $195 fee is a $100 increase from last year. That has played a part in enrollment being down about 1,000.

"A few parents called and complained," Holdsman said, "but an overwhelming number of them still believe it's the best bargain in town."

There is no cost for members signing up through community groups like the Police Athletic League, which paid the center a lump sum of $3,000. A $15,000 grant from Campbell Soup Co. covered the tuition for participants at Camden courts.

Louis Bolling, an NJTL alumnus and community outreach coordinator for next month's season-ending event, said the center's goal is "to honor the spirit and legacy of Arthur Ashe."

Bolling, 33, first played in the NJTL as an 11-year-old, novice-level player at the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center in West Philadelphia. He went on to play at Central, St. Joseph's University, and Morgan State. "NJTL presents unique opportunities for a kid," he said.

Bolling, of Yeadon, is a sports and education consultant. Once a ranked U.S. Tennis Association Middle States sectional and district junior competitor, he recently returned from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he spent the last two years as a tennis instructor and promoter.

Karen Toner, another NJTL playing and teaching product, said the summer program helped teach her "how to play, develop communication and teamwork skills, and learn about etiquette and sportsmanship."

Toner, a 28-year-old from Mayfair, was a regular at Russo Park, Cottman and Torresdale Avenues, with the NJTL and played for three Catholic League championship teams at St. Hubert. With a partial athletic scholarship and NJTL grant, she played singles and doubles at La Salle University.

"Tennis is such a good sport, and it's not saturated like some others," Lee said. "If people knew how many kids benefited from NJTL and what's offered at Arthur Ashe, I know a lot more young people would be participating."