New York (May 14) – The 30th 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 30th 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.