The
American Tennis Association, hereafter referred to as the ATA, was established
in 1916 as an alternative to the USTA (United States Tennis Association)
because the USTA would not allow minorities to compete in their national tennis
championships. In 1917 the ATA established its own national championships and
through it has produced several of the world’s top players and coaches. Althea
Gibson and Arthur Ashe, the first African Americans to be ranked No. 1 and to
win Grand Slam titles, were sponsored and groomed by ATA officials and
coaches.
Most African American professional tennis players were trained by
ATA Clubs and played ATA Tournaments before turning pro. The list includes such
greats as Zina Garrison, Leslie Allen, Lori McNeil, Chandra Rubin, Katrina
Adams, and Mali Vai Washington to name of few. The list also includes Southern
California notables as Mel “Bobo” Lewis, Don Bly and Charles Teaberry.
Today the ATA continues its rich history of developing young
tennis players and providing ATA members with the opportunity to compete in our
National Championships. The ATA is hosting the National Championships in
2018. The Championship is the largest and most unique of its kind in the United
States offering more than 50 competitive categories for players from 8 to 80.
We presently have several up and coming junior tennis players
playing in the Los Angeles area that are highly competitive and have been participating and winning tournaments throughout Southern California.
We are so proud of these amazing young tennis players, we are committed to helping them achieve their goals.
Let us introduce you to our Team:
Boys Team
Tory Bailey 14, Ethan Henderson, 14 Kent Hunter, 18, Donavon Thompkins, 10, Jaylin Guess, 16
Girls Team
Kayla Brown, 17, Breanna Cook, 15, Auria Lundy, 16, Kalli Minor, 12, Hana Moss, 16, Aniya Terry, 16, Keynon Thompkins, 15, Demaria Clark, 8
All of these juniors are high performance athletes truly dedicated
and ranked in their age division.