A USTA Florida Section Foundation grant helped Successful Tennis of Brevard introduce the sport to beginners across the age spectrum, including adults who had never held a racquet. 

The Brevard County organization used a USTA Florida Section Foundation grant of more than $4,000 to expand its introductory classes and 52 new players registered. They came from across the age spectrum, and a striking share of them were adults picking up a racquet for the first time. 

From first lesson to first league

Getting a beginner onto a court is one thing. Getting them to stay is another, and it is where most introductory programs lose people. 

Twelve of the adult beginners went from their first class to joining a small league operated by Successful Tennis of Brevard. That is the number worth pausing on. A new adult player signing up for a league has decided they are a tennis player, not someone trying tennis. 

The organization credits coaching and on-court encouragement for the jump. Players were supported through the awkward early stage rather than left to figure it out, and the result was a group that enjoyed the game enough to commit to playing it on a schedule. 

Many of those players are continuing with classes to keep building their skills. 

Why the Foundation funds this

Program Support Grants are the USTA Florida Section Foundation’s primary tool for getting tennis into communities that want it and need help paying for it. The funding covers on-court instruction, equipment, coach training and general program support, with priority given to youth tennis, adaptive tennis for players of all ages and abilities, and programs serving under-resourced communities. 

Adult beginner programming is one of the harder sells in the sport and one of the most valuable when it works. An adult who learns to play brings a family with them, fills a league, and often becomes the volunteer or the parent who gets the next group started. 

Since 2005, the Foundation has delivered more than $2.5 million in community impact, supporting programs at more than 120 organizations across Florida. 

That funding comes from individual and corporate donors, the Foundation’s recurring donor program, the US Open Experience fundraiser, and Florida’s “Play Tennis!” specialty license plate. 

Applications for Program Support Grants open in two cycles each year. Learn more at ustafloridafoundation.com/apply-for-grants, or support programs like this one at ustafloridafoundation.com.