t is will great excitement I invite you to participate in a very special event. Sportsmen’s Tennis & Enrichment Center is gearing up for its 2020 Sportsmen’s Tennis Ball on November 19th. This 12th annual event will celebrate Sportsmen's 60th anniversary while bringing community leaders, members, youth and their families together to raise vital funds for our academic, health and wellness, and social development programs that are making a critical difference in our Boston area communities. We are anticipating our usual turnout of over 700 people. Today, I am requesting your support as a silent auction donor for this year’s Tennis Ball which celebrates all of the great work that is being done here with kids – both on and off the courts.

Sportsmen’s mission is to build leaders on the court, in the classroom and in the greater community by providing academic, wellness and social development programs alongside recreational and competitive tennis instruction for youth and adults. We are committed to improving life opportunities for youth in Boston’s Blue Hill Corridor. Sportsmen's has invested 59 years in the health and well-being of Boston's inner city neighborhoods. We are a year-round, family centered organization offering tennis, academic and social enrichment programs for K-12 aged youth, adult basic education, financial literacy courses, health and wellness screening and classes. We have successfully provided free and low-cost access to educational and physical activities for the economically disadvantaged youth and families of Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury (Boston’s Blue Hill Corridor). We target low-income Blue Hill Corridor neighborhoods within a 1.5 mile radius of our facility, which are some of the most challenged and under-served areas of Boston. Our primary target population is low-income, school-age youth and young adults up to age 24 and their families residing in the inner city communities mentioned above. Our youth are 71% elementary school age, 16% middle school, 12% high school age, and 1% young adults who are not in school; gender distribution is even. 87% of the students in our programs are underprivileged (based on a scale used to determine financial aid and free or reduced lunch at school). And our work directly addresses what studies show are the most pressing challenges faced by youth and families in economically depressed neighborhoods: poor academic performance of K-12 children; obesity, chronic illness and cardiovascular disease, stemming from limited physical activity; and lack of quality, affordable after-school options for children. 

Last year’s support for the Tennis Ball has helped Sportsmen’s reach over 5,000 youngsters with tennis and fitness programs, academic enrichment, health and wellness, and life skills training. Sportsmen’s welcomed hundreds of children and families to free community tennis, including our signature Volley Against Violence initiative with the Boston Police Department. We provided over 30,000 hours of tennis instruction to 300 junior players working to build their competitive tennis skills. This year, monies raised will help support all of these programs as well as college-readiness curriculum.