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Leone Price

Our very own YTA Bear Trax Coordinator, Cynthia Price must be very proud of her only child, current Spotlight Alumnus of Mosswood Park, Leone Price. Leone has an extensive resume, which include, earning a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University, working as an Associate in the Private Funds Group at Brookfield Asset Management, creating a social network site (findyourblank.com), and traveling the world. In addition to her impressive resume, Leone is humble at heart and makes it a point to give back and volunteer for her local community in New York.

When asked why she joined YTA, Leone simply replied, “My mom wanted a hitting partner.” And so began Leone’s journey with tennis, first at Allendale Park through the National Junior Tennis League (NJTL) to eventually becoming a regular and Jr. Coach at YTA site Mosswood Park.

Leone admits she wasn’t the most coordinated player on court. “I am 6’2” and had a lot of growth spurts,” Leone recalls. “So it took me a while to get my footwork back after growing a couple of inches overnight.” But practice coupled with the unique coaching style and motivation of the then Mosswood Park Site Director, Terry Stewart, Leone became more than just a hitting partner for her mom. She developed strong a baseline play; so strong that she easily defeated her mom 6-0 in their one and only match together.

As a member of YTA for more than a decade, Leone has many memorable experiences. She participated in the NJTL Regional Rally, YTA Summer Carnival, and even met her favorite professional tennis player, Venus Williams as a Bank of the West Classic ball kid. Another incredibly opportunity came in the fall of 2002. At 18 years old, Leone was one of 10 national winners of the Arthur Ashe Essay Contest. Her essay won her an all-expense-paid trip with her mom to partake in the festivities surrounding Arthur Ashe Kids Day during the US Open.

Now in the east coast, Leone continues to work on her game through an adult tennis program called BumbleBee Tennis. She volunteers with New York Cares’ Tax Prep Program and I-Mentor. In the future, she hopes to attend all four tennis Grand Slams (she currently has the US Open and Wimbledon checked off the list). Lastly, Leone’s long-term goal is form a non-profit that helps young adults from under-resourced backgrounds launch their own businesses.   

There is an old African proverb we use at YTA that goes “It takes a village”. We believe the success of our youth depends not only on the love and nurture from their families, but on the people or “village” that surround them as well. For Johnson Hua, an alumnus of YTA Mosswood Park, that village was YTA.

“Mosswood Park became my second home”, Johnson says.

During his high school years, Johnson dedicated nearly four hours after class on the tennis courts, not to mention the extra hours spent on the weekends. In time, Johnson improved from knowing next to nothing about tennis to playing his first two years of college for the UC San Diego men’s tennis team.

But it wasn’t just the tennis that kept Johnson committed to YTA. There were also the staff and board members. Academic Coordinator, Cynthia Price, was like mother to Johnson who grounded him with good morals. Longtime board member, Mike Skinner did his best to help Johnson find a job years later after Johnson left the YTA program. However, none was more influential than the then Mosswood Park Site Director, Terry Stewart, who currently leads as Director of Programs.

“I might not have gone to college if it weren’t for Terry”, Johnson says. “He gave me the tools to succeed in many aspects of my life.”

Through his mentorship with Terry, Johnson found the confidence to be a strong player and self-reliant person. He even taught Johnson how to string his own tennis racquets.

Many years later, Johnson has certainly come a long way. He is a seasoned traveler, holds a bachelor’s degree from Cal and Juris Doctor from UC Hastings, and now works as an attorney for Thomson Reuters in San Francisco. He resides in North Beach but every now and then you can find him at Mosswood Park checking up on the people and program that have helped him become the successful person he is today.

Donna McCullough, an alumnus of YTA Laney College, definitely knows a thing or two about setting and achieving goals. She has proven countless times that with hard work, a drive to succeed and most importantly, a clear plan of action, the sky’s the limit.

Donna credits much her tennis accomplishment to her childhood coach, former YTA Site Director Carlton Jones. “He [Carlton] made tennis fun,” says Donna.

As a young sophomore student at Mission San Jose High School, Donna focused her time and energy in getting into a University of California.  She knew she couldn’t shine on her academics and varsity tennis play so she played more tennis. Her weekdays were dedicated to YTA and weekends to USTA tournaments in NorCal and the nation. Two years later, Donna was accepted to UC Riverside and on top of that, was recruited to play for their women’s tennis team on a full-ride tennis scholarship.

Donna describes herself as an aggressive baseline player with a strong and consistent serve. She played both singles and doubles for UCR’s tennis team and always worked her way up to the top of the roster.

Now a recent UCR graduate with a degree in Business and a concentration in Accounting, Donna is continuing to plan ahead for the future. She is working as a Staff Accountant for Ernst & Young, and her next goal is to earn her CPA (Certified Public Acccountant) license.

 
Tennis great, Arthur Ashe’s vision was for tennis to be a vehicle of success for inner-city youth.  He visited the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco to generate interest and support for tennis. Money was raised by Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA ) and the community to build tennis courts on Kiska Road.  These were the courts, Tyronda Starks grew up on.

Now a senior at Clark Atlanta University, Starks recalls many memories playing tennis at the Hunters Point courts. She began playing tennis as a 5 year old, when a neighbor who worked as an instructor for YTA, Antonie, asked if she wanted to play tennis. Since then, she “never put the racket down.”  Growing up, tennis was her sport of choice, she surrounded herself with people who encouraged and motivated her to continue her pursuit.  Some of these people were the tennis coaches at YTA. Coach Thomas White, Stark’s instructor in the later years, became a father figure in her life. She explains that “Coach White made sure that we took advantage of opportunities.”

Starks recalled many fond memories of YTA. One of her best memories while in the program was delivering a speech at Stanford University in front of everyone from the different sites of YTA. Starks also recalled a time when YTA sponsored her and other participants on a trip to Boise, Idaho to meet one of the instructors that taught Andre Agassi. This trip challenged her in many ways.  Having diabetes, Starks often times needs to be aware of her blood sugar level. While on the trip, she ate something that boosted her level. As a result, the coach told Starks she cannot play in the mini tennis tournament. Stark said, “I got mad that I could not play because that is what I do, I play tennis.” She was determined to play in the tournament. She jogged until her numbers went down. The coach tested her blood sugar level, and when it returned to normal, she was allowed to play.  It was a challenge for Starks because she did not want to let her condition prevent her from doing what she loves, tennis. Instead, she got frustrated, but the frustration turns into determination as she did what she could to get her blood sugar level down.

For Starks, tennis continues to be an important part of her life. As a college student, she plays for Clark Atlanta University’s tennis team.  Currently, she is majoring in Business Administration and hopes to become a sports manager after graduation. Starks explains that after graduation, she will still be involved with tennis because “tennis is my expertise.”  Her main focus will be on opening up her own non-profit organization in tennis in the Atlanta area and becoming a coach at Clark Atlanta.  Starks believes that it is important to give back, especially to young children.  She said, “When you give back to young children, they will remember and when they remember that, they will give back.”

Rosal Casals: A San Francisco Gem

Just about any tennis fan 40 or more years old will recall the 1970s, as one of the most exciting and defining moments in professional and recreational tennis. Even Elton John recorded a song about tennis which became a pop hit. And, the tennis explosion as it were, seemed to inspire just about anybody with basic physical ability, to visit local parks and join clubs for the purpose of learning, playing or socializing tennis. And, the only time when people weren’t actively playing it, was when they were huddled around a television set watching the pros compete. Rosie Casals, or Rosebud, as she was often referred for her petite stature, seemed to stand tall among many of the other big name pros of her day. Not only because of her tenacious and competitive spirit, and not just because of the important role model she represented to emerging girls and women athletes, but also for having began her tennis career in San Francisco, and for developing through a program she valued which eventually became Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA).

Try to imagine this distant 70s era without Rosie Casals, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more vibrant, tenacious, and skilled professional woman tennis player packed into one petite 5’2” frame. But Rosie really did personify this period by earning a place as one of world’s top 10 women’s tennis players for 11 years, and from 1968-1982 winning close to 600 matches in this time.

Aside from the professional tennis star Casals is known for, few knew that she began playing tennis in San Francisco Golden Gate Park as child.

“I was about eight years old when I would go out with my dad who played social weekend tennis at the park or just hitting against the wall and he’s the one who got me started,” Casals said. “There was a Whiteman Cup group that was active there and who was helpful to me, as well as the ‘Friends of Golden Gate Park’ and James B. Moffitt who all played with me.”

Casals explained that while she was just learning to play and coming into her own as a talented recreational tennis player, she became aware of the Youth Tennis Federation, which was the genesis of the current YTA.

” I was fortunate at the time, we had a lot of great tournament players and I was very fortunate to have come from a public park that had a lot of history with the tennis players who’d played there like Bill Johnson, Maureen Conway and Bill Tilden.”

The Youth Tennis Federation, a significant resource that worked with the public parks to bring tennis to underprivileged children when Casals was a youngster, has gone through various iterations before becoming the YTA we know now. With a published book to her credit and an organization in place that she oversees, Casals is involved and committed to working with YTA’s fundraising efforts to insure children of all socioeconomic levels can participate in the sport if they wish despite the escalating costs associated with tennis.

“Tennis is costly nowadays, just entering tournaments is expensive and many things that should be available are not and there are not enough free programs available, but kids shouldn’t suffer because they can’t afford coaching or academies” Casals commented. “Too often these kids fall through the cracks because the lack of programs, but through YTAs fundraising events like Esurance and other types of programs that raise funds, especially where pros can help, this will make the difference, I’ll see what I can do to help.”