Beyond the Baseline: JMTP Pro-Am, SPORTIME Amagansett

Later this summer, the Johnny Mac Tennis Project (JMTP) will hold its annual Pro-Am event, the organization’s largest fundraising endeavor, on the beautiful campus of SPORTIME Amagansett. 

Set for Saturday, August 16, the Pro-Am will bring together tennis legends, headlined by John and Patrick McEnroe, and top coaches from across the Sportime club community, paired with amateur participants. Special guests and JMTP scholarship players will also join the action, creating an incredible day of tennis fun in an unparalleled Hamptons setting, all to benefit a great cause. 

“The Pro-Am is JMTP’s signature fundraising event,” said Ryann Cutillo, JMTP Executive Director. “It raises critical funding, allowing us to deliver our free year-round tennis, educational and life skills programming to more and more New York City youth who otherwise would not have access to the sport.”

And it isn’t just the dollars raised that makes the Pro-Am special. The event gathers a large group of like-minded people who share a vision of the power that tennis can have in the life of a child, and on a next generation of scholar-athletes.

“Beyond fundraising, the event plays a vital role in raising awareness about our mission by bringing together supporters who also believe in the power of tennis as a vehicle for life change,” Cutillo added.

This year will mark the 11th installment of the event, which was the brainchild of SPORTIME President and CEO Claude Okin and fellow JMTP Advisory Board Member Steve Hasker. The two began discussing the idea of a Pro-Am to support the JMTP in the summer of 2014, and were motivated to make it a premier event. 

The following summer, the first-ever JMTP Pro-Am was held, and the team has not missed a year since, even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when they had to adjust the event to adhere to distancing guidelines, but were still able to hold a successful event. 

“The event started as a shared project with much support from the team at our Amagansett site, which is the SPORTIME location that I have been leading since 1989, and where Steve has been a member for almost as long,” Okin said. “We launched the event in 2015, and we have not missed a year, including during the pandemic, when the U.S. Open bubble prevented John and Patrick from attending. We held the event without legends, and with social distancing, and we still sold it out and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s been a great run and reflects the generous spirit of our SPORTIME Amagansett community, expanded by the many friends and supporters who join us there each year for the event.”

The event has historically been held the Saturday before the start of the main draw of the U.S. Open, but this year is being moved to the Saturday prior to Fan Week and the new Mixed Doubles event, as the US Open expands its programming schedule across three full weeks. “The U.S. Open focuses the eyes of the tennis world on New York, and brings virtually all of the world’s best players and many former greats to New York, so it made sense to create the world’s largest pro-am as a lead up to the world’s biggest Grand Slam,” explained Okin. 

The Pro-Am consists of 144 players across eight flights, and involves more than just thrilling tennis action on the courts. Players and guests are treated to food and beverage offerings, and there is both a silent and a live auction featuring one-of-a-kind items and experiences. In addition to the pro and amateur players who compete in the pro-am, hundreds of spectators come out for the day to show their support, and for a chance to mingle with tennis legends and to personally meet many of the rising stars of the JMTP programs whose training is being funded as part of the organization’s mission. 

With more than a decade of successful events having been held, the JMTP and SPORTIME teams collaborate each year to evolve the event, with the goal of providing the best possible day of tennis and fundraising. Planning for the following year’s event starts within days of the events completion; from securing the next year’s Legends, to soliciting and organizing auction items, this great one-day event is a labor of love that reflects a full year of hard work and dedication. 

“Each year, we approach the event with the mindset of continuous improvement – we gather feedback from participants, guests and sponsors to understand what worked well, and where we can elevate the experience for everyone involved,” said Cutillo. “Whether it is improving the hospitality or creating more meaningful ways for our participants and supporters to engage with our kids and our mission, we are always looking for ways to make the event more impactful and memorable for those involved.”

Cutillo summed it up perfectly:

“It’s no small task, but it’s something we love doing. Our goal is to create a memorable day that not only raises critical funding, but deepens the connection between our supporters and the young people we serve.”

The event holds a special place in Okin’s heart, and is an outgrowth of promise that he and John McEnroe made to each other when they founded the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in 2010, and again when the JMTP was launched in 2012: that their shared endeavors would offer pathways of opportunity to NYC kids through tennis, and especially to kids and families with limited resources. His wife, Hana Sromova, a former WTA player herself, is the GM of the Amagansett location, and together the two take great pride in the sheer impact the event has on the next generation of youngsters, as well as the support it garners from their local community. 

“We are so looking forward to the 2025 JMTP Pro-Am at SPORTIME Amagansett. I think this is the earliest we have ever announced our complete legends lineup. Having Marion Bartoli, James Blake, both Bryan Brothers, Mary Joe Fernandez, Tommy Haas, and Milos Raonic all confirmed, along with, of course, our own John and Patrick McEnroe, is simply thrilling,” Okin concluded. “This year’s legends have won 39 Grand Slam singles and doubles titles, and literally hundreds of ATP and WTA titles, and I do not think we have ever had a group quite this accomplished. I hope everyone comes out to watch and cheer them on. Of course, the money we raise is essential to JMTP’s mission and goes directly to support our free school-year programming and our scholarships for deserving New York kids, who could not otherwise chase their tennis dreams and change their lives through tennis. So be there!”

Click Here to read more about the Pro-Am or sign-up to register!