Author: joe

Dear Cary Leeds Center Families,

In view of Coronavirus health advisories from CDC and NY health officials, NYJTL will be closing the Cary Leeds Center at 8 pm tonight, Monday, March 16.  Your health and safety are our number one priority.

• Our customer service center will remain open but staff will work remotely, so do not hesitate to call
• We will make all efforts to reschedule missed programming as soon as we are able to reopen and will communicate with you as we learn more

We look forward to serving you in-person in the near future and until then please follow us on Facebook for tips on how to get the daily recommended amounts of exercise for your family at home during this time.

Yours sincerely,

George Guimaraes, NYJTL CEO and President
Liezel Huber, Cary Leeds Center Executive Director of Tennis

London, January 15^th, 2019 – Tie Break Tens, the fast-paced, short-form tennis format, is excited to announce the launch of their grassroots tennis initiative, TB10 Challenger, in New York City this January.  Designed to increase participation in tennis across age groups, TB10 Challenger tournaments will be held across all five NYC boroughs over the next few months.

Launched as a tennis format in 2015, Tie Break Tens is a quick-fire version of the sport that anyone can play. Unlike conventional tennis, Tie Break Tens matches are comprised solely of tie breaks – no games, no sets, just exhilarating ten- point breakers in which every point counts.  Tie Break Tens are working in partnership with the New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) programme to deliver tournaments across the city during January and February 2019.   Leading sporting goods companies, Wilson and FILA, will partner the Challenger Series USA and will support the roll-out of the tournaments with fantastic prizes for players, merchandise, equipment and marketing support.

The competition will heat up on February 1-2 with tournaments taking place at the prestigious Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in The Bronx.  Eight lucky players will earn the opportunity to fly to Indian Wells for an all expenses trip of a lifetime to the BNP Paribas Open. Finalists will have the opportunity to live like a professional player and compete on one of the world-renowned courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“We are delighted to expand the Challenger into America, following a successful launch in the UK which saw hundreds of young people enjoying competing in tennis, often for the first time.  Our main objective is to drive participation in tennis through our quick, fun format because anyone can play whatever level of tennis they might be.” said Felicity Barnard, CEO of Tie Break Tens.

George Guimaraes, NYJTL CEO & President said, “We welcome the TB10 Challenger initiative and hope to use the player-friendly format as a way to drive tennis participation, inspire healthy competition, and create flexible short-form match play for our children. We are looking forward to getting more children out on the court and seeing TB10 tournaments roll out across NYC”.

As part of the strategy, TB10 are encouraging players to upload content to their website and the TB10 PLAY zone which will host scores, photos and videos.  TB10 will be awarding participants with fantastic prizes, including signed kit from previous TB10 players Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal.

For further information on Tie Break Tens or to enter the Challenger Series USA please contact:

Joe Ceriello, NYJTL Marketing & Communications, (917) 693-6672; jceriello@nyjtl.org

About Tie Break Tens:

Tie Break Tens is a quick-fire version of tennis that anyone can play. Unlike conventional tennis matches, Tie Break Tens matches are comprised solely of tie breaks – no games, no sets, just exhilarating ten- point breakers in which every point counts.

The Tie Break Tens series sees world-class players going head to head in fast-paced, action-packed knock out tournaments at prestigious venues around the globe for winner-takes-all prizes of $250,000 each. So far, TB10s has visited London, Vienna, Madrid, Melbourne and New York City.

For more information, please visit www.tiebreaktens.com  or email us at enquiries@tiebreaktens.com

About NYJTL:

The mission of New York Junior Tennis & Learning is to develop the character of young people through tennis and education for a lifetime of success on and off the court.  Since 1971, NYJTL has changed lives through tennis, education, healthy living, and character development programs.  Today, it is the largest youth tennis and education non-profit in the nation, reaching more than 85,000 K-12 New York City youth.

NYJTL celebrates the diversity of the children who participate in every program, providing 3,000,000 hours of year-round programming that serves youth from all five boroughs.  During the critical summer months, NYJTL operates in 39 community tennis sites.  All NYJTL Community Tennis and Afterschool programs are offered at no cost to its participants.

In June 2015, the $26.5 million Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning opened its doors as the flagship home of NYJTL in the heart of the Bronx.  The Cary Leeds Center provides more than 6,000 hours of free tennis court time annually to the community’s under resourced youth. Last year more than 15,000 players walked through its doors for play and programming.

FLUSHING, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2018 – The USTA today announced that the US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament, during which 64 of the world’s top 18-and-under boys and girls tennis players will compete for a chance to play in the US Open Junior Championships, will be held at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the Bronx August 31-September 1.

The main draw of the US Open Junior Championships runs September 2-9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., and will feature tomorrow’s stars from around the world. Four US Open junior singles champions – Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport and Stefan Edberg – have gone on to win the US Open singles title, as did junior finalists Roger Federer, Boris Becker, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis.

The US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament features 32-player singles draws for boys and girls, with eight players on each side advancing to the main draw. The 2018 Boys’ and Girls’ Qualifying fields feature mostly players ranked in the Top 100 of the world junior rankings.

“The US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament features some of the best junior tennis players in the world, and the Cary Leeds Center is a world-class tennis facility,” said US Open Junior Tournament Director Lew Brewer. “Not only does it make a great host for the Qualifying Tournament, but it allows us to offer all of our main-draw juniors more practice time than ever before.”

In June 2015, the $26.5 million Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning opened its doors as the flagship home of New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) in the heart of the Bronx. In April 2017, the Cary Leeds Center completed its final phase of construction with the opening of the Pershing Square Stadium, the Victor Kiam Stadium, and the Dalia and Larry Leeds Viewing Bridge. The Cary Leeds Center provides more than 6,000 hours of free tennis court time annually to the community’s under-resourced youth.

“NYJTL believes that life skills gained through tennis and education are the catalyst for long-term achievement and sees the opportunity to work with the USTA in hosting the US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament as a way to introduce tennis and inspire the next generation,” said George Guimaraes, NYJTL CEO & President.

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About New York Junior Tennis & Learning

The mission of New York Junior Tennis & Learning is to develop the character of young people through tennis and education for a lifetime of success on and off the court.  Since 1971, NYJTL has changed lives through tennis, education, healthy living, and character development programs.  Today, it is the largest youth tennis and education non-profit in the nation, reaching 85,000 K-12 New York City youth. NYJTL celebrates the diversity of the children who participate in every program, providing three million hours of year-round tennis and education programming serving youth from all five New York City boroughs.  All NYJTL Community Tennis and Afterschool programs are offered at no cost to participants.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

For more information, contact:

Pat Mitsch, USTA Communications, (914) 656-9021; Mitsch@usta.com.

Joe Ceriello, NYJTL Marketing & Communications, (917) 693-6672; jceriello@nyjtl.org

New York (May 14) – The 30^th annual NYJTL Mayor’s Cup will be presented by Disney culminating on June 9 with distribution by First Book of 20,000 free books to the Bronx community and schools.

Disney’s support of the NYJTL Mayor’s Cup, which is a free tennis tournament attracting entries from 800 New York City youth, provides an immediate impact with the addition this year of the distribution of books.

“The funding from Disney allows us to better assist scholar athletes and directly impacts the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Education community.” said George Guimaraes, NYJTL CEO & President.

Disney also supports First Book, a nonprofit that provides equal access to quality education for all children.

“First Book is honored to work with Disney and NYJTL on this important initiative,” said Kyle Zimmer, president, co-founder, and CEO of First Book. “In addition to the health benefits that come from tennis, physical exercise has a tangible impact on academic performance, improving children’s social and emotional learning and their cognitive abilities. In fact, children who are physically active typically perform better in reading and math. So capping this year’s NYJTL Mayor’s Cup with 20,000 brand new books for Bronx schools: that’s truly a perfect match.”

Highlighting the NYJTL Mayor’s Cup presented by Disney Finals Awards Show with a live vocal performance will be Miya Mayo Bass, a former NYJTL staff member who was a contestant in the 2017-18 season of “The Voice” broadcast nationally on NBC.  Bass, who is a native of Jamaica, Queens is the daughter of two NYPD police officers and was an NYJTL site director in 2017. 

“NYJTL will always hold a special place in my heart, and I am so happy to be back sharing my talents with so many wonderful and inspiring children,” said Bass.

The official NYJTL Mayor’s Cup application is now online at https://www.nyjtl.org/mayors-cup.

About New York Junior Tennis & Learning

The mission of New York Junior Tennis & Learning is to develop the character of young people through tennis and education for a lifetime of success on and off the court.  Since 1971, NYJTL has changed lives through tennis, education, healthy living, and character development programs.  Today, it is the largest youth tennis and education non-profit in the nation, reaching 85,000 K-12 New York City youth.

In June 2015, the $26.5 million Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning opened its doors as the flagship home of NYJTL in the heart of the South Bronx.  In April 2017, the Cary Leeds Center completed its final phase of construction with the opening of the Pershing Square Stadium, the Victor Kiam Stadium, and the Dalia and Larry Leeds Viewing Bridge.  The Cary Leeds Center provides more than 6,000 hours of free tennis court time annually to the community’s under-resourced youth.

NYJTL celebrates the diversity of the children who participate in every program, providing three million hours of year-round tennis and education programming serving youth from all five New York City boroughs.  All NYJTL Community Tennis and Afterschool programs are offered at no cost to participants.

About First Book

First Book transforms the lives of children in need. Through a sustainable, market-driven model, First Book is creating equal access to quality education — making everything from brand new, high-quality books and educational resources, to sports equipment, winter coats, snacks, and more – affordable to its member network of more than 375,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need. Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 175 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low income families in more than 30 countries.

First Book currently reaches an average of 5 million children every year and supports more than one in four of the estimated 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving children in need. With an additional 1,000 educators joining each week, First Book is the largest and fastest-growing network of educators in the United States exclusively serving kids in need.

About The NYJTL Mayor’s Cup

2018 marks the 30^th consecutive year that New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) has hosted the Mayor’s Cup, which is the largest interscholastic tennis tournament in the nation with  more than 600 participants representing 160 private, public, and parochial schools in New York City competing in elementary, middle school, and high school divisions.

The NYJTL Mayor’s Cup, which runs from May 31 – June 9, is free to participants and includes 18 team and individual events for beginners to experienced varsity athletes all competing at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the heart of the South Bronx. Early round matches are played on 22 courts with the final varsity individual matches featured on the state-of-the art Victor Kiam and Pershing Square Stadium courts with viewing for more than 800 spectators.