Are You Ready? Season Opener on Saturday

I can't believe it's already here, but KCTL's 4th Seasons kicks off on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at all four locations: Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner Houses. We'll be keeping an eye on the weather all week, but so far the forecast is sunny and mid 60s. A perfect day for tennis.

Students: If you haven't registered yet, sign-up with your Resident Association office ASAP.

Volunteers: Meet at your respective sites at 12:30pm. If you're new or are unsure about which site to report to, head over to Marcy site (at Marcy Playground) and we'll get you to the right place.

Learn a bit about our awesome site leaders on the individual team pages: Maayan at Marcy, Bobby at Tompkins, Duayne at Lafayette Gardens and Dimitri at Sumner.

Check out a photo from Saturday's Volunteer Training: Part II. View more photos from training on the KCTL Facebook page.

KCTL is Better Than Ever Online: How to Use This Site

KCTL is gearing up for our 4th season, which starts Saturday, May 4, 2013, and we're super excited to roll out a brand new website to celebrate it!

Amazing New Features
The KCTL website has several new, helpful features. Our monthly calendar keeps track of KCTL classes, events and holidays all season long. It displays important organizational events like board meetings and volunteer trainings. It also displays the four professional Grand Slam tennis tournaments. In the calendar section of the site, visitors can also find detailed information about our three major KCTL events (Fundraiser, Arthur Ashe Kids Day and Jamboree.)

Secondly, a special notification bar at the top of site announces important news. For example, on a drizzly gray morning, parents, students and volunteers should visit the website to see if class is cancelled -- look for a big red notification bar at the top of the site. The current notification bar is green highlighting our new website! If there is no important information to share, there will be no bar at the top of the site.

Information Overload
Our new site includes so much more information about the program including information on all four KCTL sites, the respective site leaders and KCTL board members.

Young visitors and parents can read up on how to sign-up for a KCTL team, and other visitors can complete an online form to become a volunteer with the program.

There's even an easy page to make a donation to the program, as well as a thank you page to our friends and supporters.

This KCTL blog will be a hub of regularly updated news, including weekly site recaps, interviews with KCTL volunteers and youth athletes, professional tennis player and tournament information, and BedStuy community news. But we want to hear your encouraging words, so be sure to leave us a comment using our Facebook-integrated commenting system.

Lastly, we've included an eNewsletter sign-up at the bottom of the site. Stay in touch with our program and get the most important news directly to your inbox when you enter your e-mail address. Similarly, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or join the volunteer MeetUp group using the easy icons at the top of the website.

That's all folks. Please share your thoughts in the comments below or contact us directly.

Pratt Internship Fair on November 10, 2012

Hey everyone, KCTL will be at the Pratt Institute's one-day conference: Internship & Opportunity Fair: Find & Follow Your Passion. We'll be tabling from 10:30a to 12:30p on Saturday, November 10. We're always looking for a few good volunteers. Tennis skill not required, but it doesn't hurt. Plus, a desire to make change in the Bed-Stuy community through the lives of youth athletes. View the internship description.

For more information, visit the Pratt Institute website.

Arthur Ashe Kids Day 2012

On Saturday, we piled kids, parents and volunteers onto two school buses and took them to the Billie Jean National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY for Arthur Ashe Kids Day! The National Tennis Center was abuzz with thousands of kids and adults. It was great to see so many tennis enthusiasts in one place!

It was a really great day where the kids got to run a variety of drills on the courts, play fun games like Speedzone: How Fast is Your Serve?, and watch the pro tennis players practice--there was even a Roger Federer sighting! Activities were split up by age, so everyone got to do a little something. I was very impressed not only by how well-behaved all the students were amid the 'chaos' but also by their tennis skills! I saw a Marcy student hit a 65 mph serve! Several of them rallied against the pros as if they had been playing since they were born. It was a proud day for KCTL. Later in the afternoon, some of the students entered Arthur Ashe Stadium and enjoyed musical performances from Carly Rae Jepsen and The Wanted.

It was an inspiring day where the kids got to experience both the history and potential future of the sport of tennis. view all the photos from KCTL's trip to Arthur Ashe Kids Day, visit out Facebook page.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

The 3rd Annual Kings County Tennis League Fundraiser was a rousing success! Over one hundred people attended and participated in our raffle and silent auction. We raised more than enough to provide uniforms to the kids at all four sites, as well as the funds to take all the kids to Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY in August.

We had delicious food and free drinks, great raffle prizes and fantastic live jazz courtesy of the Austin Walker trio. An extra big thanks to our sponsors and supporters: USTA Eastern, New York City Housing Authority, Citizens Committee for New York City, and all our amazingly dedicated volunteers! And a thank you to these local businesses for providing prizes, and/or food and drink: Black Swan Restaurant, Bonobos Men's Clothing, Brooklyn Brewery, City Winery, Perelandra Natural Foods. The night wouldn't have been a success without your efforts!

It was an inspiring event that caught the attention of both local and state politicians and media. Thank you for your support and keep checking back on the site to see all the great things KCTL is doing! View all the photos from the event on the KCTL Facebook page.

A Little Pat on the Back Publicity

I just wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the support and publicity we've gotten in the past few weeks in an effort to make the fundraiser a success. We recently made it in the NYTime's side project: The Local (Ft. Greene & Clinton Hill): Local Youths Learn Tennis for Free. My favorite part?

“It’s just fun!” said seven-year-old Madison Francis, a participant who heard about the program through her school. “It gives you energy.”
Her mother, Amore Philip, is also a fan. “It gets her away from the computer,” she said. “She even wants to practice in the house.”

The fundraiser has also been published on the NY Social Diary, Socially Superlative, and Bedstuy Patch online calendars, which helps us reach a wider audience of potential funders.

Get Ready for KCTL's 3rd Annual Fundraiser

I am so pleased to announce the details for our 3rd Annual KCTL Fundraiser!

When: Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Where: The Dumbo Loft, 155 Water St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

We'll be having a silent auction for a pair of U.S. Open President Box tickets! As well as a raffle for amazing prizes such as: Jay-Z concert tickets at the new Barclays Center; NY Philharmonic tickets (Wynton Marsalis, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert); NY Mets baseball tickets (great seats!); Catered dinner for 4; Perelandra Natural Goods Gift Basket and more!

Maybe you believe in our mission, maybe you've seen first-hand the difference it's made in the lives of the kids, maybe you're a tennis lover or sports enthusiast, maybe you're a Bed-Stuy resident -- whatever your reason, come join us for a great evening to support a worthy cause!

Or view more details on our EventBrite KCTL Fundraiser page.