For their community engagement efforts involving youth tennis, the Western Kenosha County Tennis Association received the 2016 State Community Tennis Association of the Year Award, according to a press release by the United States Tennis Association/Midwest Section.
The WKCTA launched eight years ago, when they focused on 10 and Under Tennis, starting with eight tennis assemblies in local elementary schools and organized a “block party” the following spring, resulting in 75 youth enrolling in the program.
By 2016, 154 players aged 5-12 participated.
“This award recognizes the work CTAs throughout the Midwest Section are doing in support of the USTA’s mission to promote and grow the game of tennis in their respective community,” the release states.
The USTA/Midwest Section, consisting of 13 districts in seven states, is the second largest section of the USTA with more than 72,000 individual members and about 1,000 organizations.
One effort, USTA/Midwest states, is for the WKCTA’s 24-hour “Rally for Life” event held annually to raise funds for the American Cancer Society of Kenosha County and donations to The Sharing Center in Trevor.
Rally for Life is an event where adults and children play continuously for 24 hours, and in the most recent July fundraiser at Westosha Central High School, WKCTA brought in a record $3,000.
“WKCTA has continued to expand its junior programming, offering indoor winter sessions, and has sponsored junior partnership with the Racine CTA,” the release states.
In June, five student coaches helped lead a children’s tennis activity at the Nippersink Public Library in Richmond, Ill.
The Westosha Report will have more in an upcoming print edition