Category: Latest News

For immediate release NEW YORK (January 10, 2022) – New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) is pleased to announce an endowed fund of $1.0 million from Stuart Weitzman, the renowned designer and entrepreneur.  This gift will support the NYJTL Scholar Athlete Program, which will offer high quality, personalized tennis and educational support and instruction to provide a pathway for under-resourced NYC children to attend and graduate from college.  After 50 years of providing tennis and academic support for NYC youth, the Scholar Athlete Program will serve as a beacon for the entire organization.

Mr. Weitzman’s visionary support of NYJTL’s role in nurturing the development of the city’s young people through tennis and education will assure the expansion of its program and greater access to more under-resourced children.

“It is my pleasure to work with NYJTL to better the lives of NYC youth through its enduring work,” said Mr. Weitzman. “In giving back, I hope to connect my legacy to the transformative Scholar Athlete Program, which will launch many children into college and beyond.”

Stuart Weitzman is a luxury shoe designer and corporate leader who launched his namesake brand in 1986. He spent several years as an apprentice under his father, Seymour Weitzman, at the Mr. Seymour shoe factory in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Since his early beginnings in the industry, Mr. Weitzman has revolutionized shoe design internationally by combining style and comfort in all his designs.

In 2018, Mr. Weitzman retired after nearly five decades of successfully leading one of the most recognizable brands in the footwear industry. The legacy of the company persists through its principles of entrepreneurial spirit, interconnectedness, and originality.  He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since his retirement, he has devoted much of his time to lecturing at Penn and other universities passing along his knowledge and experiences from his career. In recognition of his support to the University of Pennsylvania, their School of Design was renamed the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

“We are elated to receive the generosity of Stuart Weitzman,” said NYJTL Board Chair Bob Horne. “This gift provides monumental aid in providing NYC children the opportunity and support they need to prepare for college and to reach their highest potential through the Scholar Athlete Program.”

This gift will partially endow NYJTL’s Scholar Athlete Program, which is the materialization of NYJTL’s core belief that tennis and education are a catalyst for long-term achievement and opportunity for low-income youth and their families.

This program will serve as the flagship NYJTL program that highlights the substantial benefits of providing in-depth services to underserved youth.  Through the example of the Scholar Athlete Program, NYJTL hopes to inspire thousands of NYC youth in all of its programs to pursue their long-term goals, including going to college for those who aspire to do so.

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 provides after school programming in approximately 30 schools and community tennis programming at approximately 40 sites throughout New York City in the summer months and at additional sites that operate during the school year.  In addition, NYJTL designed, funded (with NYC), built and operates the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, at which it provides free and commercial tennis programming year-round as well as life skills, character development and healthy living lessons.  All NYJTL community tennis and after school programs are offered at no cost to its participants.

NYJTL is looking forward to celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2022 (delayed due to COVID)!

Contact: Joe Ceriello
Chief Marketing & Development Officer
jceriello@nyjtl.org
(917) 693-6672

The Racket ?
NYJTL Scholarship Opportunities Expand

New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) believes it is important to build on our history of providing access to tennis by creating pathways to higher education for those with potential but not the resources to achieve it. For more than a decade, NYJTL has awarded Victor Kiam “Going For It” Scholarships  to four high school seniors entering college.  This year, we are proud to announce an additional six scholarship opportunities for students in 2022. This will include four annual Louis Marx, Jr. Educational Scholarships, which will be awarded to program participants in their senior year of high school who demonstrate strong character and leadership skills, sportsmanship, commitment to the game of tennis, and demonstrated financial need. Louis Marx, Jr. Educational Scholarships award recipients will receive support throughout four years of college. Another award is the AYS Leadership & Innovation Scholarship from AYS, owner of Taste of Tennis, which will be given to college-bound participants who embody leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.

Other scholarship opportunities include the Jim McManus Memorial Scholarship in collaboration with the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), which will sponsor the annual fees for an NYJTL Intensive Training Program participant, giving them the opportunity to train for a potential tennis scholarship for college.

We will be posting our application cycle in February- March 2022 and the winners will be announced at the NYJTL Mayor Dinkins’ Cup in May, with awards being dispersed for college aid in the fall. NYJTL is proud to build pathways to higher education through tennis and learning for under-resourced NYC youth.

NYJTL Programs Watch King Richard

Last month, students from New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) programs were invited to watch private screenings of King Richard. The film follows the life of Richard Williams, the steadfast father of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams. Over the next month, NYJTL is raising funds to create the opportunity for more than 1,000 students to watch King Richard throughout our ACES Afterschool Program (ACES), Community Tennis Program (CTP), and community-based programs at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning.

Udai Tambar Named to Mayor-elect Adams’ Transition Team

NYJTL’s President & CEO has been appointed to Mayor-elect Eric Adams’ transition team as a member of the Human Services Committee. He will join a cadre of skilled experts across different fields to assist the mayor in tackling issues across the city.

ACES is in the Holiday Spirit

This holiday season, students in the ACES Afterschool Program (ACES) have been busy with a plethora of festive holiday activities. Middle school students from P.S./M.S. 219Q enjoyed a gingerbread house competition. Other of our ACES sites enjoyed activities such as holiday talent shows, movies, tennis tournaments, and more.

Building Bridges

NYJTL partnered with the Building  Bridges program from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to discuss the ways physicians and community-based organizations can improve health in the Bronx, and the role NYJTL plays in addressing the social determinants of health.

Ahsha Rolle Imparts Tour Lessons on Next Generation at Cary Leeds Tennis Center

The newly minted NYJTL Director of Tennis advocates for a holistic approach in bringing up the game’s newest stars….Read the full story.

On November 29, 2021, students and players from New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) programs were invited to watch private screenings of King Richard. The biographical Warner Bros. Pictures film follows the life of Richard Williams, the steadfast father of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams, who overcame seemingly unbeatable odds and rampant expectations by training his daughters from Compton, California to become exemplary athletes and role models on the global stage.  

Over the next month, NYJTL is creating opportunities for more than 1,000 students to watch King Richard and is raising funds to ensure that the opportunity is available throughout our ACES Afterschool Program (ACES), Community Tennis Program (CTP), and community-based programs at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning. NYJTL believes that it is important for NYC youth to learn about the inspiring story of the Williams sisters’ historic rise not only for their monumental growth as tennis champions, but also because they embody its organizational values of character, community, and learning. 

The story of Richard Williams and his daughters showcases much of the life skills that NYJTL cultivates in the youth it serves such as critical thinking, self-direction, competitive spirit, and resilience. King Richard screenings will be paired with an educational component, where students will discuss the different lessons from the film that teach these key themes.  

“The Williams family has mastered the principle of resilience,” says NYJTL CEO & President Udai Tambar. “Venus and Serena’s journeys are a testament to the importance of instilling perseverance and self-confidence in our young people, the way that Richard Williams did with his daughters. We know we can always dream bigger, because we know Venus and Serena did the same and prevailed.”   

Serena and Venus have donated much of their time creating motivational experiences for youth off the court. In August 2019, NYJTL partnered with Nike for the Queens of the Future event in the streets of New York City, very close to where the US Open is held annually. Serena Williams was featured in the event, where she inspired girls everywhere to pursue their dreams no matter how big. She spoke with the aspiring tennis stars and shared the lessons she learned from her own journey, expressing that sports played a huge role in her growth because it gave her confidence, courage, and discipline. We hope that all NYJTL program participants learn these principles from the inspiring Williams family and actualize them in their own lives.  

New York Junior Tennis and Learning (NYJTL) is proud to support our CEO & President Udai Tambar as he joins New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams’ transition team as a member of the Human Services Committee. He will join a cadre of skilled experts who will assist Mayor-elect Adams in his transition to City Hall on January 1, 2022. His transition team consists of hundreds of changemakers across advocacy, nonprofit, and private sectors who will work collaboratively to tackle many of the problems faced by the city.  

Mr. Tambar brings many years of leadership serving the community to the mayor-elect’s transition team. He most recently served as Northwell Health’s Vice President of Community Health. His prior roles in public service include chief of staff to the NYC deputy mayor for health and human services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli who had oversight of nine city agencies with a combined budget of more than $20 billion; executive director of South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!), a youth development community-based organization dedicated to helping low income South Asian youth in NYC; and manager of policy and operations at the 9/11 United Service Group. He holds a BA magna cum laude from Cornell University and an MPA from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.  

“My life’s work has been to empower historically underserved communities with the resources they need to succeed,” says Mr. Tambar. “I am excited to join Mayor-elect Adams’ transition team and bring the important voices of NYJTL youth and families to the foreground as we work to strengthen human services citywide.” 

The Human Services Committee will focus on bolstering human service functions to best address the diverse needs of the city. Human services help people overcome obstacles through access to a wide range of services in a shared commitment to an overall quality of life and self-sufficiency of the city’s population. NYJTL increases access to education and tennis for underserved populations in NYC, and Udai’s leadership in doing so will bring an important perspective to the forefront of policymaking for the city.

New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) congratulates David Banks on being named the next chancellor of New York City’s public school system by Mayor-elect Eric Adams. The Eagle Academy is one of NYJTL’s ACES Afterschool sites and his effective leadership, especially in running the Eagle Academy Foundation and serving under-resourced communities, will make him a great advocate for all the New York City public school students.