Through Youth Tennis Advantage, Lives are Changed...
Great Kids and Awesome Support At Bank of the West Tennis Classic!
An overcast and brisk Wednesday morning gave way to beautifully clear Palo Alto skies and a warm afternoon temperature in time to welcome the Bank of the West's Tennis Classic 'For the Kids' Dinner which brought together Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA) www.youthtennis.org board members, staff, and guests to celebrate, welcome, and raise funds for YTA's programs and accomplishments. In all, close to $300,000 was raised to help fund existing programs and to expand others. 'For the Kids' dinner featured program introductions by YTA's President Dr. Ron Grant and Executive Director Loretta Conway; as well as, introductions and interviews by broadcast personalities Ray Taliaferro and Barry McKay. Two special honorees were lauded: Tom Steyer, for his commitment to community voluntarism and support of youth tennis programs, and Thai Tu, a YTA junior whose excellence in junior tennis competition, and stellar grades has won him a four-year tennis scholarship to UC Berkeley where Thai will become member of the UCB Men's tennis team.
Great Ticket Opportunity For Esurance Fans 
Youth Tennis Advantage and the Esurance Tennis Classic's enduring collaboration to promote one of the Bay Area’s most exciting professional tennis events, while also generating funds for YTA programs, is raising the bar this year where organizational partnership is concerned. Specifically, Esurance is helping YTA by allowing the organization to sell tickets to Esurance Tennis Classic 2008, and keep 100 percent of the proceeds. Ticket purchasers who buy from YTA will be able to purchase them for $25 each, a full $10 below retail. The arrangement means more YTA funded programs are possible with the proceeds generated from each sale. The Esurance Classic takes place this year on October 10-12, at the Harbor Point Tennis Club in Mill Valley. To purchase tickets from YTA now, visit http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1610686. To speak with someone at YTA, contact Loretta Conway at 510-663-6586.
“We value our relationship and collaboration with the Esurance Tennis Classic and are delighted to have such a generous opportunity to raise money for our programs,” said Loretta Conway, YTA Executive Director.
Conway said that this year’s collaboration is particularly exciting because it gives YTA the opportunity to not only raise funding, but also sell tickets to one of the hottest professional tennis tournaments in the bay area.
“Currently, we’re devising ways to generate even more interest in this event for Esurance, and figuring out how our YTA constituents might want to join us and become part of this awesome opportunity,” Conway said.
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Thai Tu Wins 2008 UCB Tennis Scholarship
With great strides made this year working his way up the junior class with two NCS titles under his belt, Thai Tu has likely achieved the crowning glory of all possible junior tennis achievements---earning a full tennis scholarship to attend UC Berkeley this fall. The tennis scholarship makes Tu the first American male to receive the honor from the university in more than ten years.
The achievement is particularly meaningful to Tu who comes from a family of dedicated tennis player who moved to this country from Viet Nam when he was 5. Not long after moving to his new home here in the U.S., Tu began playing tennis and has gradually evolved and improved, winning numerous competitions along the way. Given Tu's early involvement with Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA) he became an integral part of the program, training with YTA site director and coach, Carlton Jones with whom he learned and honed crucial skills and techniques which have helped him win the 2006 NCS championship and a fierce competitor at his Alameda High School.
“From time to time I am asked, ‘how does a sport like tennis and after school programs make a difference or improve the lives of youngsters, the answer is easily found by looking to the achievements of Thai's and many other YTA juniors, “ said Loretta Conway, Executive Director at YTA. “That’s not to say that each and every YTA kid will get a collegiate scholarship, but the majority of them do go on to college, lead successful professional lives, and make their parents and all of us at YTA very, very proud. Today, I could not be more excited about Thai's UCB tennis scholarship and achievements,” Conway added.