Getting Involved : What a ‘Sports Scholarship Can Mean’

I grew up in Watts. I graduated from Jordan High School. I played on the tennis team there and also at L.A. City College, then got a tennis scholarship to Pepperdine. So I know what a sports scholarship can mean to a kid from Watts.

My brother, Fred, and I formed the California Tennis Assn. in 1970, when I was working as a probation officer with the kids who had committed the worst crimes. Fred and I passed out flyers at parks saying, “Hey, come on down and take a tennis lesson.” We went to schools and talked to principals to get kids to come out. And we got kids as young as 4 1/2. We got high school kids, too, mostly African American kids.

We started out just running programs on summer weekends. Now we run lessons and clinics seven days a week, year-round. We have about 70 kids participating and 20 of them are in the advanced group. My intention is to get them as advanced as possible because playing tournaments is how they are going to get noticed and get scholarships. And getting scholarships is how they are going to get an education.

I want to give something back to the kids in the area. This is just one small thing we can do. There aren’t many blacks playing tennis. But if we expose as many kids as possible to this game and take them to different parts of town to play, they might realize, “Hey, there’s something out there besides all this crazy stuff.” They can get the idea maybe their lives can be a bit better.

I want to give something back to the game of tennis too. It saved me. When I was 15 I got into some trouble. I was busted for breaking into my old junior high school and stealing a few bucks. And I went before the judge and he said, “I can’t figure you out. Here you are, such a good tennis player, that’s such a civilized game, and you go break into your school. Maybe there’s more to you.” He gave me a break. He put me on probation. I took that to heart.

I want to do this for the kids because when I was a kid, everything I experienced someone else gave me. My mom was a packer at the StarKist tuna plant in San Pedro and my dad was a custodian for L.A. County. They gave me well-being and taught me to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. My two older brothers taught me to play tennis. Without that, I don’t know where I’d be today.

Now that I’m retired (from a part-time job as a postal clerk) I can spend more time coaching. And my brother Fred coaches. Former students are now coming back to help us.

Our kids are getting scholarships. They’ve gone to tournaments in Ojai, in Texas, in Florida. But tennis is very expensive. Our program survives mostly because Michelob beer has given us about $15,000 a year. We don’t get much other help. I spend about $10,000 of my own money on it each year. And still, when we need to send a kid out of town for a tournament, we have to quickly organize a raffle to raise money to send him.

To get involved, call the California Tennis Assn. for Underprivileged Youth at (213) 292-7122