Archive
Through Youth Tennis Advantage, Lives are Changed..
Whopping Number of Aces and Support for YTA Kids
New Heroes Emerge During YTA's For the Kids Dinner
Russell Flynn Named YTA President
YTA It's 'Bear Trax' Program This Fall
YTA Teams Up with Peanut Louie's HarperForKids Program
Through
Youth Tennis Advantage, Lives are Changed ...
Paul 'Red' Fay, undersecretary of
the Navy with President John F. Kennedy
I
Wish I Had Known the Man They Refer to as ‘The Redhead’
There are stories told that often
make me dream of going back in time….. tales and accounts that I fantasize
about being part of and learning from.
YTA has a rich history full of
interesting characters. Many tennis philanthropists have played major roles in
crafting this organization. I feel privileged to follow in their footsteps.
We recently lost one of the greatest
tennis philanthropists ever associated with YTA. Paul ‘Red’ Fay, the man many
refer to as ‘The Redhead’ lost his battle with Alzheimer’s on September 23,
2009.
As I connected with those close to
Red in an effort to write a tribute to one of the great YTA leaders, the fond
memories that were shared with me helped me realize what gifts Red Fay had
given to children and families of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area. The
legacy he left through his passion for helping others through tennis, education
and leadership is best expressed by those who loved him:
“Red, like most of the Board Members
from The Youth Tennis Foundation, was part of a very special group of men. I
can't adequately describe my feelings as a 15 year old tennis instructor being
asked to lunch at Jack's in SF and sit there with the movers and shakers of
those San Francisco times...when I joined the YTF Board 10 years later I would
sit almost in awe as problems were solved quickly and without rancor. Red was a
real leader, one we all looked up to, but at the same time just one of many.
That's what it was like and in my opinion it couldn't have been
better......Successful unassuming men, all with families of their own, coming
together to help children they did not know, and whose paths they would not
otherwise cross.”
Michael Price, YTA Board Member
“Red Fay was an extraordinary leader
for Youth Tennis Foundation, came in about 1950 and became President and chief
fund raiser for YTA. He brought YTA's yearly budget for our various camps for
the under-privileged from $1,000 a year (1950) to some $ 1,000,000 a year in
(2007) -- what a feat with kids getting free lessons and tutoring on some 7 Bay
Area Playgrounds, including UC and Stanford. He was an achiever, God Bless him,
God we will miss him!”
Edgar dePue Osgood, YTA Director
Emeriti
Hononaire Consul General
Cote d'Ivoire
"Red Fay had a huge heart and
was the consummate cheerleader for everything in his life! I never knew him to
have a down day. He loved parties and uplifting others. He had a
bigger-than-life personality and he loved sports! Helping inner city children
was a natural and he did it with massive amounts of enthusiasm. Red’s
friendship with JFK and the Kennedy family were the ingredients for very
successful fundraising events that benefited YTA. The Redhead loved his roots
and helping others. He was devoted to his family and he was crazy about tennis.
Red was a ‘transformation person’!“
Peter Folger, YTA Director Emeriti
“How I would have loved to know Paul
‘Red’ Fay….”
Loretta Conway, YTA Executive
Director
For more on Paul 'Red' Fay's death:
SF Gate - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/28/BAI019SQIR.DTL
LA Times - http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-paul-fay30-2009sep30,0,1330371.story
Whopping Number of Aces and Support for YTA Kids
Academic and Life Skills Coordinator
Zonia Alston and Husband Roger at YTA Booth
A whopping 260 aces were logged at
the 2009 Bank of the West Tennis Classic last week. Youth Tennis Advantage’s
annual Aces for Kids fundraiser fell short of the goal to secure 200 pledges,
but the Bank of the West, which sponsors the event, became the event hero when
they donated $10,000 to YTA. In total, roughly $50,000 was raised for this
year’s Aces for Kids campaign.
“Here is an awesome example of how
Bank of the West is truly committed to community outreach and youth
development,” said Loretta Conway, Executive Director at YTA. “We cannot
be more appreciative of Bank of the West’s generous gift to this important
fundraising endeavor. The 2009 Bank of the West Tennis Classic has been
enjoyable and successful in every way.”
New Heroes Emerge During YTA's For the Kids Dinner
Everyone at Youth Tennis Advantage
(YTA) is reeling from the amazing show of support during our ‘For the Kids
Dinner’ presented by Blue Shield of California at the Bank of the West Classic
on July 29th. Funds will be used to help us sustain our programs throughout the
Bay Area and deliver a new and enhanced College Pathway Program for more than
300 youth and parents.
“In many ways our dinner theme:
‘Everyone needs a Hero’, could not have been more poignant given the show of
support from a variety of past and new YTA heroes. Our ‘Funds for Need’ appeal
for $90,000 to help YTA with a new College Pathway Program culminated with
$89,200 pledged in just ten minutes,” said Loretta Conway, Executive Director
of YTA. “Everyone at YTA has been inspired and energized by the substantial
investments our donors have provided this year.”
In addition to the money raised, the
entire dinner experience was delightful. YTA ball kids and several Bear
Trax participants helped with meeting guests and running the balloon auction.
Congratulations again to our scholar
athlete, Jennifer Salomon; scholar athlete emeritus, Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong and to
this year’s Arthur Ashe Excellence award receipient, Buz Walters.
It's official! YTA Bear Trax student Wesley Augustine
is #1 in the entire country for the high school boy's division of the year
long First Serve Student Athlete Competition. Wesley's grades and tournament
play were tracked since last summer as he competed against many student
athletes across the United States.
Go to www.firstserve.org and find Wesley's smiling face
and more information. First Serve will be awarding Wesley a $5,000 college
scholarship, a trip with his parent to this year's U.S. Open in New York
and a hometown celebration (location and date to be announced). Wesley has also
been given a new sony ericsson cell phone from the WTA tour sponsor.
YTA is proud to be a partner of such a professional and impactful organization
as First Serve and we are expecially proud of Wesley who has set the bar high
for all of our YTA Scholar Athletes!!!
We expect to have many YTA students competing in the new 2009-2010 First Serve
Student Athlete Competition that starts today. On your mark, get set, GO!!!!
Russell Flynn Named YTA President
With much anticipation and a full roster up of youth tennis
fund-raising activities, tournaments, and many more programs that benefit Bay
Area kids in the year ahead, the organization has just named Russell Flynn, President
of YTA.
Russell
Flynn has been a tennis player and enthusiast for more than 30 years and also a
San Francisco resident and advocate for school integration in the late 1960s.
His vision for change and inclusion ultimately led to diverse communities of
children becoming an integral part of the educational landscape which did not
exist prior. His vision for creating more opportunities for similar communities
of children will be a welcome addition for YTA.
Mr.
Flynn has also been a leader in a variety of civic activities and is now an
active investor in Bay Area real estate. His involvement as President at YTA
will help continue the momentum set forth under Dr. Ron Grant’s YTA presidency
which concluded at the end of the year. We welcome Mr. Flynn to YTA and look
forward to an exciting and successful leadership opportunity for YTA.
Two years ago YTA’s Bear Trax program located on the UC
Berkeley campus was just getting underway with sparse funding and a limited
capacity to serve roughly 20 kids a few times per week. Today, the program
operates year round, five days a week and can accommodate more than double the
number of children and teens than it had before. Currently there are 20
exuberant youth participating in the Bear Trax program this season all of whom
are focused intently on tennis techniques, as well as, equal focus on one day
attending college to pursue their academic goals. Bear Trax has openings for
students age 13-18, are still available on Tuesday and Thursday. The invaluable
opportunity the Bear Trax program offers to many more children this year than
before, is attributable to the successful fundraising effort this summer of the
YTA’s Bank of the West ‘For the Kids Dinner’ where more than $100,000 was
raised to expand the Bear Trax program into what it has evolved into today.
“The
university loves this program,” said Peter Wright, the UC Berkeley’s Men’s
Tennis Team coach who collaborates directly with YTA’s Bear Trax tennis
instructor and life skills coach, Thomas White. “We believe Bear Trax brings a
special experience to kids from communities who might otherwise not get the
chance to visit the campus, so this was an experience we thought we could
provide and help make a difference,” Wright said. His future goals include a
facility dedicated specifically for the Bear Trax program to operate from
exclusively, he believes it is an attainable goal given the commitment from the
university, the dedication from YTA to make the program vibrant and strong, and
of course the enthusiasm from the children who participate in it, and the UC
Berkeley student volunteers who lend a helpful hand for the afterschool
tutoring component.
Tiffany
Wong, a pre-med student in her junior year at UC Berkeley is a perfect example
of a college student reaching out to youngsters through this program to help
coordinate aspects of Bear Trax that will help provide supportive help and
guidance for children participating in the program, particularly where
academics and life skills are concerned. “I enjoy the program tremendously and
know that it works and that it can make a big difference in their lives. The
children come into the program eager to learn, yet not clear about how to make
the most of the available opportunities, “ said Wong. “Over time I’ve seen a
transformation in each of them where they become focused academically and
capable of engaging with adults in a mature and respectful manner; the
integration of the life skills program is key,” she concluded.
YTA Teams Up with Peanut Louie's HarperForKids Program
Creating great opportunities for children, particularly in
an educational environment is the essence of YTA’s collaboration with tennis
great Peanut Louie Harper and Harper for Kids (www.harperforkids.org), a
nonprofit organization she co-founded with her husband Tim Harper last year to
help teach children life skills to empower them to achieve their personal best.
YTA
is collaborating with HarperForKids this year when they visit public schools to
deliver “COACH WOODEN FOR KIDS© Inch and Miles Sportsmanship Tennis Festivals.”
“Both
the important messages of the legendary UCLA Coach Wooden, and Peanut Louie
Harper’s contribution to tennis and her connection to the Bay Area, make this
particular union a most auspicious one,” according to Loretta Conway, executive
director of YTA.
The
teachings from Coach Wooden, were immortalized in his children’s book ‘Inch and
Miles: The Journey to Success’ and many of its key messages will be evident as
part of a life skills sportsmanship tennis festival designed just for kids by
Peanut, Steve Jamison and Harper for Kids' Coaching Staff. YTA instructors will
work with Harper for Kids professionals in public schools delivering, “COACH
WOODEN FOR KIDS© Inch and Miles Sportsmanship Tennis Festivals.” To learn more
about where the school programs will be implemented, call Loretta Conway at
510-663-6586. To find out more about the legendary Coach Wooden, visit www.coachwooden.com
.
