KCTL Receives 2017 Member Organization of the Year Award from USTA Eastern

On Saturday, January 27, Kings County Tennis League was awarded the prestigious 2017 Member Organization of the Year Award by USTA Eastern at their annual awards dinner. KCTL was recognized for “its innovative use of tennis as an instrument for youth development and community building in underserved neighborhoods in Brooklyn.”

While honoring KCTL for this award, USTA Eastern referenced many of the historic feats our organization accomplished in 2017, including but not limited to completing our restoration project of the Sumner Houses Court, creating two youth-sized tennis courts at the Tompkins Houses Courtyard, and finishing our first full year of tennis programming, which includes fall, winter, and summer seasons. This was all completed while continuing to effectively serve the over 150 students in Bedford Stuyvesant that participate in our programming.

“As a supporter of many tennis and learning programs, the KCTL story is one of our section’s favorites,” said Jenny Schnitzer, executive director and chief operations officer of USTA Eastern. “We are beyond proud of what Michael McCasland started and the continued work of KCTL’s staff and volunteers in making tennis more accessible to children who may not otherwise had an opportunity to play our sport.”

Receiving this award from USTA Eastern serves as a great boost to KCTL as we head full bore into our Indoor Winter Tennis Program which starts this Saturday, February 3, at Pratt Institute. We look forward to seeing everyone on the courts soon, and to continue to build upon all we accomplished in 2017!

Preview of KCTL's 2018 Winter Tennis Program

Serving as a well-timed reprieve from this intense winter weather, we are excited to say that Kings County Tennis League (KCTL) will be back on the courts in less than a month!

On Saturday, February 3, KCTL will kick off this year’s Indoor Winter Tennis Program at Pratt Institute. 2018 will be our second year of year-round programming and everyone is looking forward to returning to tennis with our students!

Registration for the eight-week session reached capacity after just seven days which really goes to show how excited our students are to expand upon the skills they have learned in the summer and fall. Building on this base, this year’s Winter Program will continue to teach the fundamentals of tennis, facilitate strategy development on the court, and introduce specialty shots such as drop shots and lobs.

“The eight-week Winter Program will focus on reinforcing correct grips and technique along with developing hand-eye coordination for the younger students and improving fitness and movement for the older students,” said Dave Webley, elaborating on Winter lesson plans. “A specially designed fitness program will be implemented as one of the stations so the students can look forward to a great Saturday morning workout along with plenty of tennis action!”

Much like last year’s Winter Program, KCTL will once again host a running series of field trips for its students in addition to time spent on the courts. One trip already scheduled is an outing to the tennis expo day at the New York Open on February 10, which is guaranteed to be an action packed day of tennis for all ages.

Alongside a large group of faithful volunteers and our Program Manager, Dave Webley, this year’s Winter Program’s staff will also include Kim Diehl and Shonda Bacchus, who work together at the Sumner site during the Summer Program.

We look forward to seeing you all in February!

KCTL's 2017 Fall Classic Photo Gallery

Saturday, November 4, ended up being a beautiful day for KCTL to hold our 2nd Annual Fall Classic Tennis Tournament. Kids from around the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and beyond gathered at Marcy Playground for an afternoon of friendly competition in what proved to be an appropriate finale to this year's Fall After-School Tennis Program.

Below is a photo slideshow of the day courtesy of Ephraim Kirkwood.

KCTL Facebook Fundraiser - A How To Guide

As you probably gathered from recent e-mails, social media posts, and our transition to year-round programming, 2017 has been an incredibly eventful and successful year for KCTL. Here is a brief selection of highlights that made 2017 so special:

This is just a small sampling of everything that happened this year, so we now turn our attention to 2018 where there is a way you can help us provide even more programming and continue to grow KCTL. Our major goals are to renovate Lafayette Gardens, increase tennis and educational programming, and to partner with an early education program to offer a new KCTL "Pee Wee" tennis class!

If you are on Facebook and want to help try and raise funds for KCTL and our goals for 2018, there is a very simple and effective way to do this. As the year nears an end we are reaching out to all our past donors with a final ask for 2017. Below is a document that explains the steps:

KCTL 2nd Annual Fall Classic Tennis Tournament

This past Saturday, November 4th, KCTL’s 2nd Annual Fall Classic took place at Marcy Playground in what turned out to be a great finale to this year’s Fall After-School Program. With two divisions split by age and ability, intermediate and advanced, the tournament itself was a great representation of the five, fun-filled weeks of lessons and friendly play that all the kids worked so hard in.

With the fall program being just one pillar of our recently implemented year-round programming, all the students have improved so much and with that their commitment levels have increased, too. This commitment is just one of the factors that led to this year's Fall Classic being such a success.

An exciting thing to note about this weekend is that after plenty of practice during the Fall After-School program, the advanced students served overhead in their matches. This is an important step in these young player’s development for it will prepare them for when they play USTA tournaments in the near future.

Additionally, this weekend featured a first for our organization: KCTL invited students from another tennis organization to compete. We were thrilled and delighted to have four players from our friends, HQ Tennis.

Here are the results of the tournament:

The intermediate division was won by Jamar Thomas (aged 9) from HQ Tennis, who defeated Katelynn Espinosa (aged 7) from Sumner Tennis Club. The advanced final was won by Jonathan Del Rosario (aged 12) from Marcy Tennis Club, who defeated AJ Esperanza (aged 12) from Sumner Tennis Club. 

Congratulations to all competitors for a fantastic end to the Fall After-School Program and a big thanks to staff members Adam Joyce and Gary Robinson for running such a great Program. Go KCTL!

Weeks 1-3 Recap of KCTL'S Fall After-School Tennis Program

Rolling into the second half of KCTL’s Fall After-School Program, site leader Adam Joyce has covered three overarching aspects of tennis: preparation, margin for error, and tactics. 

Here is how Adam has incorporated these important themes into class so far:

WEEK 1 - PREPARATION

In the first week, we discussed the many ways to be prepared to play tennis. We practice often, and we practice hard, so we're ready to meet challenges on the court. We also think ahead about what we need to do on the court in order to meet our goals.

Most important, we discussed and worked on all the ways to prepare to make every shot. We stay focused on the ball and our position on the court. We stay in the ready position until we know where the ball is going. We take the racket back early. We move our feet early and use proper technique to sidestep to the ball. And we hustle to make sure the ball stays in front of us.

Most of our drills emphasized techniques of groundstrokes, volleys, and serves. Coaches feed the balls to students and worked on the most basic components of these shots. We ran some sprints to demonstrate sidestepping and backpedaling, and we ended each day with competitions like king of the court and breakout.

WEEK 2 - MARGIN FOR ERROR

Once you learn the mechanics of strokes, you can start to think about how to hit the ball into the court consistently. This requires attention to margin for error. There are many elements to achieving margin. The low-to-high stroke ensures height above the net. Aiming cross court gives you a longer distance to hit into. And controlling your body - not rushing, not swinging hard, not running while swinging - makes it more likely that your shot will go in the direction you intend it to.

This week, we focused on the mechanics of hitting crosscourt, performing drills and playing games that reward those safe shots. We also worked on achieving height over the net, as well as depth. While we played singles competitions on the big court, we also played volley games in the handball area.

WEEK 3 - TACTICS

Because we are gearing up for a tournament on November 4, we have started to think about how to win points. The students first brainstormed about how we might try to win a point - aside from achieving margin fire error. They suggested: moving the opponent from side to side; not just following a recognizable pattern; hitting short balls; hitting deep balls; hitting to where the opponent is not.

We first practiced changing patterns by hitting two balls crosscourt and one down the line. We also played a game where one player hit crosscourt and the other went down the line.

Most important, we have been working on playing points against each other - especially starting with overhand serving. The players, from the advanced to the beginner - are getting the hang of how to rally and how to construct a point.

KCTL 2017 Jamboree Photo Gallery

On September 23, the weather around Brooklyn gave kids from around the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood a summer welcome as they trickled into the Marcy playground for the Kings County Tennis League's 8th Annual Youth Tournament & Community Jamboree.

As Michael and Kim prepared the tournament draw -- -- kids set up the courts, drilled and then competed in the single-elimination tournament for the 10-and-under division and a round robin for the 11-and-over group. Below is a photo slideshow of the day, including the final rounds and trophy presentation.