USTA Serves

USTA Serves is the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association, Incorporated. USTA Serves is a not-for-profit entity that is dedicated to improving the quality of like among our nation's youth and people with disabilities. USTA Serves encourages children to pursue their goals and highest dreams by succeeding in school and becoming responsible citizens.

USTA Serves supports organizations that use tennis as a vehicle to help at risk children finish high school and qualify for college scholarships. USTA Serves targets people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

That is why it is no surprise that TOP was honored to receive a $15,000 grant from USTA Serves.

To show our appreciation, here is a letter from Alexandra Lundsgaarde, a TOP student, sent to USTA Serves explaining how TOP has impacted her life. 

August 14, 2010

Dear USTA,

I am eleven years old and currently in the Tennis Opportunity Program (TOP) at the Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago.

I am honored to be a TOP student and so thankful for all of the USTA’s support of the TOP program.  With the assistance of TOP and the USTA I would not be the tennis competitor or person that I am today.  Thanks to my many experiences and lessons learned on and off the court through TOP, I have grown enormously as a person as well.

Being in TOP has changed my life, and has allowed me to have many more opportunities than I may otherwise have not had.  TOP gives me the support to grow as a tennis player providing me with group and individual tennis instruction, as well as opportunities for match and tournament play all the while giving me the encouragement and support to be the best tennis player that I can be. Thanks to the support of the USTA, TOP has provided me with experiences in many new situations. Having the opportunity to play in tournaments and compete against other kids my age, I have learned and experienced winning and losing matches and as a result, I have learned how to be a tennis competitor as well as how to be a gracious winner and loser on and off the court. 

Being in TOP has encouraged me to be the best person that I can be not only on the court but also in life in general. I have gained and am thankful for a number of important character traits TOP have encouraged me to develop. Through having the support of this program, I have always been encouraged to do my best at all times.  I have also learned a lot about responsibility. Being accountable to myself and to TOP, I always strive to put my best foot forward and do what I need to do to succeed and be a good representation of the program. Through TOP, I have learned to set goals for myself and work towards achieving them.  I am and have always been a straight A, high honor role student.  I will continue to work hard in both school and tennis for myself and to make TOP proud of me as well as to show my gratitude for their belief in me.  I will continue to strive to develop my tennis game and work towards improve my tennis ranking. In addition, TOP has also taught me to have focus because in order to reach my goals I need to have focus and determination.   Lastly, I have learned to be mentally tough. Given the opportunity and training to play tennis in a competitive situation had taught me to be mentally tough.  I am thankful for this as I feel this is an important trait to have both on the tennis court and in life in general.

Being a part of TOP and having such a strong support system together with my family, I have gained an enormous amount of confidence as well.  In addition to improving my tennis game, the skills that I have acquired through my experiences and opportunities through TOP have filtered through to other areas of my life in general.  I am a performer who sings and plays guitar throughout the Chicagoland area and am currently one of the youngest members of the Lookingglass Theater Young Ensemble.  I am certain that the confidence I have gain through being a part of TOP as played a large role in my ability to strive in all of these other activities.

Through being a part of the TOP program, I have learned many life lessons about believing in myself and never discriminating someone because of what their financial situation might be.  TOP has also provided me with the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends who come from all different backgrounds. Although we all have different personalities, we all have one thing in common: the love of tennis.

I would like to thank the USTA for helping to fund TOP. It has made such a difference in my life.

Sincerely,

Alex Lundsgaarde

TOP Student

Chicago, Illinois