Today we’d like to introduce you to Franklin Park Tennis Association.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Franklin Park Tennis Association. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
FPTA started in 1993 with a few tennis players and friends coming together to have the tennis courts at Franklin Park’s Shattuck Grove site renovated. These players soon after organized to provide free community lessons in the park during the summers. FPTA programs have grown from simple drop-in summer park program, to a multi-site, year-round program with several program offerings; which is still run by a group of friends and volunteers.
Franklin Park Tennis Association lives its mission each day by providing quality tennis programs to families in Boston and surrounding areas. We strive to create a positive, safe and welcoming environment that helps to build stronger ties amongst tennis players, the community and our partners. We proudly boast about our “tennis family” which provides tennis instruction, play opportunities and competition, as well as a network of friends, support and other learning opportunities. We offer a broad range of programs to promote inclusion of all potential players and supporters. By providing a mix of free and low-cost programs we ensure that anyone who wants to learn to play tennis, has an opportunity with FPTA.
Not Just Tennis!
FPTA is a Community Tennis Association (CTA) in Boston that strives to live its mission of “uniting family and the community through the sport of tennis” and in its efforts provides so much more than just tennis.
Volunteerism Comprised of a large base of tennis players, their family and friends, local professionals and community members, volunteerism is always a priority. FPTA seeks opportunities to reach out to community members and groups to lend a hand when they can.
Mentoring and Leadership Development
Jr. Team/Jr. Coach participants provide support to FPTA programs by volunteering their time to help new and younger players learn to play and develop a love for tennis. Additionally, they assist with arts & crafts and face painting activities when the kids are off court.
Professional Development
The vast majority of our coaches and volunteers are residents of the local community and have a vested interest in supporting the youth and families that participate in FPTA programs. Informally, the leadership will identify individuals who need additional support on and off the court and try to help. Formally, FPTA has implemented the Jr. Team/Jr. Coach program to help our youngsters stay engaged in tennis and understand that they can play a role in the development of others and in themselves.
Peer Support/Lifelong Friendships
FPTA seeks out and creates opportunities for its participants to develop their tennis and related skills. Through workshops on coaching, tennis rules, becoming a tennis official and teaching certification FPTA hopes to provide options for tennis players to consider in conjunction with their love for playing tennis.
Outreach & Partnerships
Many of the founders and original players at the Shattuck tennis courts still frequent the courts and maintain their connection with each other despite the passing of time. They also reach out and engage new players and friends as part of the daily routine.
The Shattuck Grove site in Franklin Park is a safe and supportive environment – a covetable setting for players and others. FPTA is uniquely intergenerational with players ranging from 3 years old to over 80. Bonds formed on the tennis court transcend into many areas of life beyond the tennis court.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I got involved as a participant in the program in 2005, the organization operated out of the park, with informal meetings and by storing equipment in different players’ homes and cars. We later worked out an agreement with Urban Edge for office space, which has served us well since 2010, but as there are plans to build a recreation facility where our office currently stands, we are facing the challenge of finding a new office space in this community at an affordable price. Having a home base is essential for us as we mange equipment and people at multiple locations throughout the year. Since almost all of our volunteers also have full-time jobs or other commitments, we generally meet late in the evenings and most community spaces are not available to us for meeting and planning.
Tennis staffing is also a challenge as most tennis positions are part-time and coaches generally have to juggle more than one position to make ends meet. While we work with college students and work to train our young players, they often leave to go back to college or to pursue more consistent employment opportunities, always leaving us with the challenge of finding new staff.
Lastly, as our core group of players from the late 90’s are aging, dealing with family issues and not having as much leisure time, we are working harder to pull in new players who are willing to help sustain the organization. Our efforts to bring in new players from different ethnic groups and younger players, is not easy task as we learn to utilize social media and new strategies as we go along opportunities.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Franklin Park Tennis Association – what should we know?
Tennis is traditionally a sport for more affluent individuals and families and is not one that has been popular in the communities of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, Our goals include introducing tennis as an affordable and fun sport for individuals of all ages. By providing free and low-cost opportunities we open the door to a great sport for many in our communities who would have never tried tennis. For our free tennis lessons, we provide the racquets and balls, eliminating all the barriers to participation in tennis at our sites on a year round basis.
We are proud to serve a diverse and multi-generational audience. With support from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) through an outreach grant in 2017, we were able to implement new outreach strategies through social media and special events such as Racquets and Reggae and Tennis & Salsa, where we combined tennis and culture through music, food and dance – making a statement that tennis is also social and fun.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Creating a welcoming environment is critical to our success and has helped us to maintain a strong reputation in the community. We try our best to make our participants feel like part of the tennis family and to feel that they can join us whenever they can. What used to be an exclusive sport, is always an inclusive sport for us. Come on in and give a try and we will do our best to help you succeed.
Pricing:
- Our tennis lessons are free – year round, no equipment needed
Contact Info:
- Address: 1544 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury MA 02119 (Office only – no programs take place here)
- Website: www.franklinparktennis.org
- Phone: 617-427-8900
- Email: franklinparktennis@gmail.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fpta1
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