A Look At USTA Eastern’s Community Involvement

As we move closer to the start of the final major of the year, we are lucky to be able to welcome in the tennis world to New York as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center plays host  to the world’s largest tennis event: the U.S. Open. It’s one of the best times of the year in the community if you are a tennis fan, and creates the perfect setting to showcase the work being done by USTA Eastern.

Throughout this year, USTA Eastern has continued to help the sport of tennis grow, maintaining and improving on a trend that we’ve seen happening over the last several years. Long Island Tennis Magazine sat down with Jenny Schnitzer, USTA Eastern’s Executive Director & CEO, to discuss how the year has gone so far, what is planned for the U.S. Open and look ahead to the final portion of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

LITM: What were the goals for USTA Eastern heading into 2024, and how have you been able to meet those goals so far?

Schnitzer: Our ultimate goal is always to grow tennis across New York and New Jersey. We want to bring new players into our community, welcome back those who may have put down a racquet for a couple years, and of course, keep all the people currently hitting the courts engaged and invested in our sport. In 2024, we’ve focused on some specific areas under that larger umbrella, including increasing beginner and social play opportunities, strengthening and growing our local stable of coaches, and continuing our collaborative efforts with local parks across the section.

LITM: Were there any new initiatives you ushered in this year? How have those gone thus far?

Schnitzer: A few new initiatives of note:

→Promoting sportsmanship is always a top priority for our competitive department. This year, our junior competition team launched “The Sportsmanship Project,” where players participating in junior tournaments can nominate their peers for exemplary on-court conduct through the use of an app. This is only the beginning and we are very proud of the direction in which we are headed. We’ve received more sportsmanship nominations this year to-date than at this point last year.

→We’re extremely passionate about sharing the many health benefits of the sport. This past February, in honor of American Heart Month and in partnership with our hospital sponsor NewYork-Presbyterian, we hosted a series of free cardio tennis events at facilities around the Metro region.

→One of our biggest initiatives of the year was opening up our annual conference to a larger audience beyond volunteers and industry partners. We wanted junior and league players to participate in the event as well and feel like they too could have a hand in supporting our overall mission. We’re extremely proud that we were able to bring the inaugural Tennis Innovation Summit to life and that so many varied and energetic members of our community joined us on a rainy Saturday in March to participate in the event, which included sessions on everything from cardio tennis to technological advances in the industry. It helped that Kim Clijsters was able to serve as our keynote speaker!

LITM: What are some of the plans/activities/events you have going on at the 2024 U.S. Open?

Schnitzer: As we did last year, we will be organizing an Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander-focused event on August 19 during Fan Week. We will also once again hold our annual Eastern Junior Awards Gala on Day 1 of the US Open. At the Gala we celebrate the top three ranked Eastern juniors in each age division, as well as our 2023 Sportsmanship Award winners. We love hosting this event because after the ceremony the players we honored are free to walk around the grounds and watch some Round 1 matches with their families. It’s a great reward for all their hard work and dedication.

Similarly, we also host our annual DEI Champions Award Ceremony on opening day. This is an event where we celebrate leaders from throughout the section who have gone above and beyond growing tennis in diverse communities.

USTA Eastern staff is also, as always, heavily involved in organizing the on-court Net Generation demonstrations that precede the matches. The vast majority of the kids who participate, including those who serve as coin tossers before the start of each contest, come from the Eastern section.

LITM: Have you seen a growth in tennis participation this year up to this point? To what do you attribute that if so?

Schnitzer: Across the board we’re seeing growth in the competitive space. Year over year, event registrations are up 8%, tournament registrations are up 9%, and tournaments hosted are up 11%.

We’re particularly proud of the growth we’ve seen in social adult programming. This is programming we’ve developed for players who want to hit the courts with their friends and enjoy a little relaxed, friendly competition but maybe don’t want to commit to playing tournaments or competing in USTA Leagues. We can attribute the growth in this category to the relatively new USTA Flex app, which enables players to meet new competitors in their area, at their level. We’ve been running box leagues through the app in New York City for the last two summers, and another league will kick off this fall after the US Open.

LITM: Eastern has been at the forefront of diversity & inclusion, and welcoming in new players from all walks of life into our sport. Why is this such an important mission for Eastern, and what sorts of things have you done to try and achieve this?

Schnitzer: Diversity and inclusion is just imperative to our overall mission, and it’s as simple as that. It’s embedded in everything we do. How can we possibly grow this sport if we’re not being inclusive, if we’re not reaching out to diverse audiences? Tennis is a game for all.

We have developed strong partnerships with a wide range of organizations including Jack & Jill of America, Heart of Dinner and Metropolitan Tennis Group.

We often set up shop at events that are not necessarily tennis-oriented but that already attract large, diverse audiences. Our approach has enabled us to greatly increase the visibility of the sport. For example, at the “Juneteenth in Queens” event this past June, we were able to set up a booth at tennis courts near the celebration. We brought in instructors from Brookville Tennis and festival attendees received the opportunity to step on court and get an informal lesson. We partnered with the All-Love Racquet Club and shared information about places to play and get instruction in the area. We’re doing this to show that tennis welcomes everyone, especially through park play.

LITM: As we enter the final quarter of the year, what are the organization’s goals for the final few months?

Schnitzer: We are really inspired by the growth we’ve already seen in 2024. USTA National has boldly set the goal to increase the country’s tennis-playing population to 35 million tennis players by 2035, and we are committed to doing our part to make that a reality. We are working every day to make tennis more accessible in our section of the country, and we are helping to improve public court conditions where possible. We are focused on New York City specifically, where we see a huge opportunity for growth!

LITM: Have you begun preparing for 2025? What can people expect from Eastern as we approach a new year?

Schnitzer: Low-compression red tennis balls continue to be a big source of potential in our view. They help beginners more quickly grasp the fundamentals of the game, which will ultimately help keep them invested in playing. Again, growing the number of tennis players in our section isn’t just about finding new players. It’s also about retention. To that end, we are constantly working to improve players’ experiences. That’s why we are so committed to experimenting with new formats like USTA Flex and LVBL, as well as celebrating sportsmanship and strengthening our coaching base.