Tennis Participation Bounced Even Higher In 2021, Up 27.9% Since 2019

Final 12 months noticed one more “web” improve in individuals taking part in tennis. The Physical Activity Council (PAC) has simply served up their 2021 report on sports, fitness, and recreation participation in the U.S. And for a second 12 months in a row, the outcomes have been smashing for tennis. Over 22.6 million individuals raised a racket final 12 months, which was an upward bounce of about 1,000,000 gamers or a 4.5% improve from 2020. Talking of constructing a racket, a report from the Tennis Industry Association additionally revealed one other optimistic swing in racket gross sales with 22.7% extra rackets being offered for a 46.2% improve in gross sales {dollars} in 2021 in comparison with the 12 months earlier than. Assuming that one particular person didn’t purchase 3.4 million rackets, this improve in racket gross sales was one other signal that increasingly more individuals at the moment are taking part in tennis.

That, in fact, is sweet information if you’re within the tennis business and unhealthy information in case you occur to be a tennis ball. Nevertheless it additionally could also be very optimistic from a public well being standpoint. Tennis can’t solely be a variety of enjoyable (and a variety of pun), it could possibly assist individuals of all ages keep extra bodily energetic and socially and intellectually engaged as nicely. This might be particularly necessary for the youth of America as a result of didn’t Whitney Houston sing one thing concerning the youngsters being our future? Dan Faber, Chief Government of the US Tennis Affiliation (USTA) Basis, described how tennis can “maintain youngsters energetic and engaged. Near 14 million youth stay in poverty. Near 75% of crimes are dedicated by highschool dropouts. There may be additionally the childhood weight problems challenge. These are issues that the USTA Basis can concentrate on.”

Final July, I already reported for Forbes how tennis had efficiently courted round 4 million new gamers (for a 22% improve) through the first 12 months of the pandemic. With social distancing in place in 2020, tennis supplied everybody a approach to get train and social interplay whereas remaining at the very least one Federer (as a result of Roger Federer is somewhat over six toes tall) away from one another. Apparently, that’s how many individuals noticed 2020, so to talk. And such momentum appeared to hold into 2021. Over the 2 12 months interval from 2019 by 2021, tennis has skilled a 27.9% growth in participation, including round 4.9 million gamers. That’s a powerful return for a sport that not too way back gave the impression to be on the downswing within the U.S.

Whereas the extreme acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its yucky spike proteins could have contributed to this current spike in tennis participation, don’t overlook the persevering with efforts of the USTA Basis and the tennis neighborhood generally to interrupt down limitations to taking part in. Regardless of what the game can supply, over time one stereotype has been weighing tennis down like a sweater vest made out of sandbags: the notion has been that tennis is someway solely a sport for the elites, the rich. Positive, tennis tools and court docket time can typically appear expensive, too expensive for many who don’t have extra assets. Nonetheless, it doesn’t should be that means. The USTA Basis has been attempting to alter that picture. Faber defined that his “cost is to be sure that underrepresented communities have extra entry to tennis.”

One the backbones of accelerating tennis participation has been the Nationwide Junior Tennis and Studying (NJTL) community. As described by the USTA Foundation website, this community “options greater than 250 nonprofit youth improvement organizations that supply free or low-cost tennis and training programming to over 160,000 under-resourced youth annually.” Regardless of the pandemic affecting many issues throughout society together with closing parks and recreation fields in some unspecified time in the future and making bathroom paper at instances ridiculously tough to search out, “no NJTL chapters closed their doorways because the starting of the pandemic and 35 new chapter associates have been added [in 2021],” based on Faber.

And certainly one of these new NJTL chapters added was the primary one to be utterly youth-led. William Solar, now a school pupil at Johns Hopkins College, based the Dublin Tennis Outreach Program (Dublin TOP) as a highschool pupil and has since handed the reins on to Isaac Frank, at present a senior in Excessive Faculty. Within the following Dublin TOP video, Solar described this system:

After seeing how one other highschool didn’t have the assets for present and would-be tennis gamers, Solar “needed to show tennis to youngsters and provides again,” in his phrases. “We acquired an preliminary donation of kit, tennis rackets and purple foam balls. There have been 10 or so constant college students. I actually acquired to know a variety of the children.” That finally led him to forming Dublin TOP as a 501(c) group, all as a highschool pupil.

If you happen to assume that the NJTL chapters are merely about educating tennis and discovering the subsequent Serena Williams, you’d be flawed, flawed because the 2011 track “Friday.” The NJTIL chapters have integrated basic academic and preparation for all times applications into their tennis instruction as nicely. Though this community has helped develop gamers similar to Washington, D.C. native Robin Montgomery, who in 2021 grew to become the primary participant in 17 years to win each the junior women’ singles and doubles titles on the U.S. Open, it’s been extra about getting ready youth for his or her subsequent steps in life.

Talking of subsequent steps, one other initiative of the USTA Basis is about connecting youngsters nearer to the world of upper training. Throughout 2021 through the USTA’s Collegiate Group Hub applications, the USTA Basis partnered numerous NJTL chapters with 12 totally different universities similar to Michigan State College, College of Arizona, College of South Carolina, College of Alabama, and St. Thomas College. This allowed the NJTL applications to make use of the colleges’ amenities for his or her programming. In flip, youth might get earlier publicity to collegiate settings and faculty college students, college, and coaches in order that they don’t assume that going to varsity is like what the film Outdated Faculty portrayed. In fact, going to varsity requires cash. So, in 2021, the USTA Basis awarded over $441,000 in faculty scholarships to 47 college students as nicely. “The extra youngsters see success tales, the higher,” Faber defined. “These applications can present how tennis could be mixed with training.”

One other 2021 initiative has been serving to fundraise to construct the Carol Kimmelman Athletic and Academic Campus. This will likely be a 25,000 square-foot Studying Heart constructed on 87 acres of land in Carson, California, proper within the coronary heart of Los Angeles. The amenities will embody practically 50 tennis courts, 5 full-size soccer fields, and numerous different multipurpose athletic amenities to supply tutorial and athletic applications for under-resourced youth and households. The campus will bear the identify of Kimmelman, a former member of the College of Southern California (USC) tennis group that received the NCAA championship in 1983 who tragically handed away from most cancers in 2017. “[Carol Kimmelman’s] household pledged an eight-digit donation to construct the campus,” Faber mentioned. Faber additionally talked about others similar to TGR Basis, which is Tiger Woods’ Basis, AEG, and the LA Galaxy who’re working with the USTA Basis to assist make the Campus a actuality.

This USTA Basis video describes Kimmelman’s legacy and plans for the Campus:

In keeping with Faber, “the ribbon chopping with happen in 2022 with groundbreaking in 2023.”

Might this 12 months, 2022, be a 2020-too for tennis in a great way? In different phrases, will the tennis neighborhood be capable of proceed the momentum generated through the first 12 months of the pandemic? Faber sees continued development, anticipating to “carry on one other 30 areas” as NJTL chapters. “The USTA Basis Board has actually stepped up, opening doorways to speak to different individuals,” he added. “[tennis legend] Chris Evert, the board chair, has performed an enormous position.” Certainly, they’ve managed to string collectively fairly of few successes in recent times. Maybe 2022 will maintain transferring the saying “tennis, anybody” increasingly more in the direction of “tennis everybody.”