Save the date for the KCTL 5th Annual Fundraiser
Love All, New York
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
M1-5 Lounge, Manhattan
More details to follow.
Want to support KCTL before September? Donate Now! Please and thank you.
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KCTL Events
Over the weekend at Marcy, our off-court discussion borrowed the central theme from the day’s earlier ribbon cutting ceremony: community. The ceremony unveiled our newly restored, beautifully painted blue tennis court—but our celebration didn’t stop there. Together with students, parents and volunteers from all four KCTL sites, along with local leadership figures, we also celebrated something more meaningful than a tennis court--our community. Speakers at the ceremony praised KCTL’s impact on the community, and expressed confidence that the new court will intensify this positive influence.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and 36th District Council Member Robert Cornegy applauded our program’s creation of a new community. KCTL is a fusion of children, parents and adult volunteers in safe and fun learning environments, they said.
KCTL president and founder, Michael McCasland emphasized that the new facility welcomes an entire community. Although it’s located at the Marcy Playground, closest to the Marcy Houses, the renovated space is open to all KCTL students, including those who reside in Tompkins, Sumner and Lafayette Gardens.
Brandon, a 15-year-old KCTL student who has been with the program since it began in 2010, enthusiastically told the audience that KCTL has created a new community for him, a “second family.”
After the ceremony, we talked about community in our off-court discussion to round everything out. Appropriately, some of our neighbors in the community sat alongside us, since we’d invited students and volunteers from Tompkins to join our site for the day.
In our conversation, we explained that communities are best defined by where you live. We pointed out how earlier that day, we had united four communities to join as one. With this understanding, the kids told us about the importance of taking care of your community and its resources. If someone’s damaging community property—say, with graffiti or breaking glass—you should ask them to stop or alert someone who can help.
The students learned that any community is strongest when its members interact in cooperation in pursuit of common good—just like the community we’d come together to celebrate earlier in the day.
Councilmember Robert Cornegy and Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey help cut ribbon to new court to kick off 2014 tennis program
BROOKLYN, June 21, 2014 – The Kings County Tennis League (KCTL), a non-profit mentorship program that builds community through tennis, today unveiled the newly renovated tennis court at Marcy Playground, next to the Marcy Houses in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. KCTL set out last fall to repair the cracked and aging court, where the mentorship program began in 2010.
“We bring tennis to the children, and that includes proper courts in a good playing condition,” said Michael McCasland, president and founder, KCTL. “We launched our program at Marcy Playground, so this was highly personal. This was about giving our youth members and mentor volunteers the best tennis experience, including a great court. In fact, our 2014 season is off with a heightened sense of enthusiasm.”
KCTL began fundraising in October to cover the costs of the renovation. This included beautification with new plants and shrubs around the tennis court.
“The Kings County Tennis League has become a notable part of our community, engaging our youth and matching them with mentors through tennis. Renovating the Marcy Playground tennis court shows this organization's deep commitment to Bed-Stuy. I join the community in expressing gratitude and excitement for this excellent example of civic commitment,” said Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., who helped cut the ribbon to open the new court.
“As an agency charged with maintaining over 4500 acres of recreational parkland in the borough of Brooklyn alone, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation is extremely grateful for the work that the Kings County Tennis League has put into this renovation,” said Brooklyn Borough Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey. “We take great pride in being able to provide our residents with the best recreational opportunities available.”
About KCTL
With the mission of bringing tennis to the kids of Brooklyn, KCTL offers free, two-hour tennis lessons with mentors on Saturdays from May through October for children, ages 5-15, who live in low-income, housing projects. Formed in 2010 as the Marcy Tennis Club, we’ve since expanded to four different housing locations (Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner Houses) and now serve more than 120 youth athletes. KCTL, and our roster of over 50 dedicated volunteers, firmly believe that tennis is an effective means to provide mentorship and build community.
For more information, contact:
Michael McCasland, KCTL Founder and President
michael@kingscountytennisleague.org
(202) 359-9534
Kings County Tennis League to Cut Ribbon on Newly Renovated Marcy Playground Tennis Court
Councilmember Robert Cornegy to join re-opening of popular Bed-Stuy tennis court
BROOKLYN – The Kings County Tennis League (KCTL), a non-profit mentorship program that builds community through tennis, will re-open the Marcy Playground tennis court after an extensive renovation and beautification project. Councilmember Robert Cornegy will join KCTL, youth athletes and volunteers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
WHAT: Ribbon-Cutting Re-Opening Ceremony for Marcy Playground Tennis Court. Press conference including Q&A.
WHO: KCTL board members, mentor volunteers, community leaders, including Councilmember Robert Cornegy, youth athletes and their families.
WHEN: Saturday, June 21, 2014
12:00 pm - Reception
12:15 pm - Comments by KCTL board, Councilmember Cornegy, youth athletes
12:30 pm - Ribbon Cutting
12:35 pm - Q&A
WHERE: Marcy Playground Tennis Court
735 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
About KCTL
With the mission of bringing tennis to the kids of Brooklyn, KCTL offers free, two-hour tennis lessons with mentors on Saturdays from May through October for children, ages five to 15, who live in low-income, public housing projects. Formed in 2010 as the Marcy Tennis Club, we’ve since expanded to four different housing locations (Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner Houses) and now serve more than 120 youths. KCTL, and our roster of over 45 dedicated volunteers, firmly believe that tennis is an effective means to provide mentorship and build community. To join, volunteer, donate or get more information, go to http://www.kingscountytennisleague.org.
For more information, contact:
Michael McCasland, KCTL Founder and President
michael@kingscountytennisleague.org, 202-359-9534
Wow. This weekend will be our third class with the kids this season. Time is already flying. The program is off to a tremendous start, and it's only up-hill from here! We had a solid turnout for our first class at each of the sites: Marcy, Tompkins, Lafayette Gardens and Sumner Houses. And we were surprised and excited by the number of new, eager faces that came out at Tompkins and Sumner.
The first class was mostly registration and getting-to-know each other activities, like name games, relay races and some simple tennis games. At Tompkins, we mostly emphasized keeping the kids engaged and having fun. Across all four sites, all the kids took an interest in learning the sport of tennis, even those who had never played before!
The second week's class, we were lucky that the rain held off (mostly) and we had a beautiful day. At Sumner, we started with drills to work on forehand form. Midway through class we had an group discussion about teamwork, which we followed up with teamwork games. Just as the rain was starting we got in a good loud "One, two, three, SUMNER TENNIS CLUB!" Lucky Sumner, we had a great class at Tompkins, also full of forehand work, but the falling rain made us miss out on the end of class cheer! (One of my personal favorite parts of class.) It was great to see that all the kids--new and returning--picked up the forehand surprisingly quickly.
Site coordinator, Gary, talks about the first two weeks of class: "Today was our first class, and need I say that I was very excited....I finally getting the opportunity to put all that I learned during my training, to good use and to finally get to meet our students. Getting to know everyone with the name games we used was a blast, it helped me out that's for sure! The class then proceeded with an introduction the the game/sport of tennis. The students enjoyed the drills as well as the chance to put they learned to use with the various games we played.
"We played another few rounds of name games, which again, was a blessing for me lol. Class started out as usual with our stretching exercises to help limber up the students and to prepare them for today's drills and the activities planned for them. Our first warm up exercise/drill was a gamed called "Centipede". This activity worked on footwork & speed. We then followed up with the the Penny drill and Elbow to the target drill. We proceeded to play a few rounds of a game I like to call "Outfield," where all of our students get to practice what was taught to them... hitting a forehand and working on their footwork. We barely had enough time to get our Marcy Site "Shout Out" before Mother Nature open up and the clouds and rain started pouring down.
Site coordinator, Candice, talks about the season opener: "It's been an extremely exciting time at Lafayette Gardens. Each week the sun's been out and the kids are coming from every direction of the neighborhood, explaining with pride how they participated last year or the year before that. I'm really excited about the season given we've already had an overflow of kids showing up ready to play!"
I think it's safe to say that the volunteers also had a great time getting to meet the kids. We're all looking forward to seeing the kids grow, not only in tennis but the building of their character. See you next week!
We're holding several social events throughout April for everyone interested in being a part of the program--on and off the court--to meet each other and learn more about the program. We're gearing up for an amazing season this year and we want you to be a part of it! Come out and say hello!
For the latest news on volunteer socials, follow us on Meet-Up, Facebook and/or Twitter.
Upcoming Events:
Tasty Eats at Klimat
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Klimat Lounge
77 East 7th Street, New York
We'll be downstairs. Look for the KCTL shirts.
Pizza and Pints at Brooklyn Brewery
Sunday, April 6, 2014
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N 11th St, Brooklyn
Look for the KCTL T-Shirts
Indoor Tennis at Prospect Park
Saturday, April 12, 2014
6:30 PM to 8:15 PM
Prospect Park Tennis Center
50 Parkside Avenue, Brooklyn
Free court time from 7pm - 8pm
On-Court Volunteer Training
Saturdays, April 19 and April 26, 2014
12:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Tennis Court at Marcy Playground
753 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn
For new and old volunteers: Come join us on, meet other volunteers, learn more about the program and get a refresher on tennis basics and teaching tennis to kids. Lunch will be provided.Volunteers only need to attend one training meeting. However, feel free to attend both! If you can’t attend either training, please email us and let us know. First class with the kids is Saturday, May 3rd!
KCTL has had an amazing season this year and I can't believe it's almost over! Cheer on over 100 kids on Saturday as they participate in KCTL's Youth Tennis Tournaments (9 and under, 10 and over). Meet KCTL board members and volunteers, hang out with your BedStuy neighbors and enjoy a whole afternoon of tennis. There will be music and kids' games and food!
View photos from last year's end of season tournament and jamboree on Facebook! Album 1 and Album 2.