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Carlton Jones

Carlton Jones is Youth Tennis Advantage’s (YTA) Laney College Site Director. He is a highly skilled and certified tennis instructor with many years of experience and a special emphasis in developing high performing junior players. YTA Board Member Dr. Ronald Grant adds, “He is he role model that most parents would want their children to follow.”

Carlton, who is born and raised in Berkeley, began his work with YTA in 1996 during his leadership in the Warren Brown Tennis Program. Since then, Carlton’s unique coaching style that he describes as “leading by example and strict rote work” has prepared many of his students to compete at a collegiate level. Students like Thai Tu, a former scholar athlete of YTA Laney College, who earned a full ride scholarship to play for Cal and then the University of San Francisco.

According to Carlton, there are many things that make a good tennis player but three things are for certain – a player must be committed, disciplined, and have fun. These are the basic qualities that have helped YTA scholar athletes achieve the level of play they are at now.

Carlton has been selected twice for the USTA High Performance Coaches’ Training which is only offered to the highest level instructors in the country. Due to Carlton’s extensive training, Laney College is known as the high performance player development site for YTA. However, this summer membership maxed out at an all-time high of 50 kids, most were beginners. Carlton is confident that some of these players will be the next generation of YTA high performance players.

In addition to his work with YTA, Carlton is the Director of an adult and junior tennis program called Aztec Tennis where he was recently awarded the 2010 Best Tennis Pro by the East Bay Express. He is the father of 3 boys and aside from tennis he enjoys riding motorcycles, traveling, and gardening.

Behind Carl Mendoza’s quiet façade, is a person with many stories to share and a great sense of humor. If you take the time to listen to his stories, you will find that he is a walking historical experience. He lived through some of the pivotal and turbulent events of the 20^th century that shaped how Carl Mendoza lives his life and values community, diversity and inclusion.

Growing up in the small town of Salinas, California, Carl was active in his high school’s football, basketball, and track team. Nicknamed “The Tank” by his football team, he and his team won several football championships.

After graduation, Carl headed to CAL for his undergraduate in Architecture, but changed course when he became involved in the Free Speech Movement as a student protestor. He decided to get involved because he believed in the causes the movement was fighting for. Following his year long experience at CAL, Carl moved back home and attended junior college. He eventually transferred to San Francisco State University (SFSU).

Similar to his experience at CAL, SF State experienced a wave of student strikes related to the Vietnam War and the push for Ethnic Studies at the university. Carl became active again and went on strike to advocate for equal access to higher education for minorities. At 23, his brother-in-law taught him the sport of tennis.

With his B.A. in Political Science in hand, he went to law school at Golden Gate University. However, he soon realized that law school was not for him. He took a retail job at Macy’s and worked his way up to assistant buyer and eventually a buyer for Bruners Furniture.

A chance opportunity came when someone asked Carl to take over a summer tennis program at Golden Gate Park, and the rest is history. Carl kept the job and at 40 years of age, he changed his full profession to be a tennis instructor. He remained with tennis because “it is fun and less stressful.”

Carl’s passion for community, diversity and inclusion resulted in his involvement with inner-city tennis programs. He went on to work for programs such as Oakland’s Mayor Program, the Warren Brown Tennis Program, and NJTL of San Francisco. He started a NJTL camp for disadvantage junior tennis players who otherwise could not afford the cost of camp.

With over 25 years of tennis experience, he still loves teaching tennis. At the end of the day, it is about working with really good kids and watching the kids grow, mature, graduate, and succeed in life. He looks forward to retirement, but still wants to stay active in the ‘teaching profession.’ He hopes to write a book on how teach tennis. Carl currently serves as Site Director for YTA’s John McLaren Park programs.

For more than a year, Zonia has played an integral role in providing support and guidance to Youth Tennis Advantage’s (YTA) academic staff and kids. As the current Academic and Life-Skills Coordinator, she organizes the workshops for the College Pathway Program which, since its kick-off at YTA’s Bear Trax site, has received many warm welcomes from kids, parents, and the community.

Zonia’s repeated success to inspire and motivate YTA kids to build their confidence and be college-bound scholar athletes stems from her childhood upbringings, love of tennis, and passion to creatively enrich the lives of youth and others.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Zonia was taught at an early age the importance of education. She excelled in her studies and was a third year premed student at UC Berkeley.  However, Zonia changed programs and eventually obtained a Bachelors Degree in Human Growth & Development with an independent major combining Art, Education and Science from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. Zonia also holds a Masters Degree in Recreation Administration and Leisure Studies from San Francisco State University. 

It was during her college years where Zonia fell in love with the game of tennis including the man who taught her how to play, her future husband Roger. Soon after, she became a certified tennis coach with now twenty-three years of experience under her belt. She also worked as a K-12^th grade substitute teacher and as the Coach and Programs Director for the National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) for ten years.

Fortunately for us, Zonia’s decades of experience and contribution to the tennis community and youth development does not end here. For the coming New Year, Zonia will continue her work with the College Pathway Program as a way to foster growth in youth tennis, academics and life-skills.   And as always, Zonia will accomplish this so that kids of all ages can benefit and learn while having fun.

Coach White, The Epitome of Excellence!

With more than 10 years as a Life Coach instructor, Coach Thomas White has dedicated his time and talent at the Hunter's Point YTA site in San Francisco, to help youngsters traverse successfully through difficulties and help them achieve the excellence in every aspect of their lives. Life skills are incorporated in every aspect of YTA programs. The coaches andmentors blend discussions and practices of valuable life skills in everything they do. This type of constant repetition promotes positive values, healthy habits, and real life discussions that add to the development of the whole child.

Under Coach White's instruction YTA partnership with First Serve, Inc., a provider of internationally renowned Life Skills curriculum, has continued to grow with plans to implement seven more sites throughout 2008.  YTA also is looking to Coach White to become site director at YTA's  BearTrax program site at the UC Berkeley campus once the plans for doing so have been approved.  For now though Coach White will continue doing a stellar job of providing children who experience the disadvantages and limitations associated with poverty, with mentorship, guidance, and tennis instruction so that they know they can achieve what ever they set their sights on.