USTA Florida Revitalizes AMPLIFY Initiative Bringing Support to Organizations, HBCUs, & More

Back in July of 2020, USTA Florida couldn’t sit around any longer and watch as racial inequality was staggered throughout the tennis community. The organization launched the AMPLIFY Project, to engage and boost participation from the Black community in tennis. Now, USTA Florida has revamped the initiative, putting an emphasis on coaches and volunteers, partnerships, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

One area of focus that must be tackled is increasing the number of people, specifically coaches and volunteers, to help teach and organize tennis within black communities. By offering more tennis programs to black communities, there will be growth of participation among black players. “We need to stay active, turn over those rocks and really explore new areas that nontraditional tennis has,” said George Henry, Director of Tennis at Play Tennis Gainesville and member of the AMPLIFY Project Team. 

Another key aspect of the project is creating official partnerships with Black Organizations. Since AMPLIFY was created back in 2020, USTA Florida has worked with Organizations like the American Tennis Association, but nothing has been set in stone as official partners. The goal will be to determine what services we can offer in a meaningful consistent way and to evolve existing relationships into working partnerships. Those organizations are Black Girls Tennis Club, 100 Black Men, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and many more. 

“I’ve been part of the Amplify project team since its inception in 2020 and I’m happy to see the initiative evolve year after year,” said project team lead, Magali Holt. “In the past few years, we’ve seen some great things happen under the Amplify umbrella, but I’m even more excited for what’s to come in the upcoming years with our potential partnerships with some amazing organizations as well as the commitment USTA Florida is making to support our 4 Florida HBCUs. I think the best is yet to come.” 

USTA Florida also is committed to growing participation at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). With this commitment, USTA Florida has launched a 5-goal initiative, which will support the growth of African American participation. The five goals are listed below: 

1. To ensure all four HBCUs in the state of Florida have sustainable tennis programs and quality coaching.  
2. To provide incentives for black youth in the state of Florida to attend HBCUs and play tennis. 
3. To encourage administrators at HBCUs to fund and provide full support for tennis programs and coaches. 
4. To introduce tennis to communities surrounding HBCUs and the alumni, many of whom have not played previously but can play now. 
5. To attract and retain black coaches at HBCUs and empower them to build best-in-class, sustainable programs. 

The organization also wants to educate tennis participants on the history of black tennis and HBCUs. “It’s a disservice to blacks and to tennis to not know the history and involvement of our community within the sport,” Henry added, who also coached tennis at Bethune-Cookman University, a Florida HBCU. 

The courts at FAMU honor the late Althea Gibson.

USTA Florida has already worked with Edward Waters University, an HBCU, which recently launched its inaugural tennis program. Through this collaboration, USTA Florida provides support to the team, offering access to the innovative tool, SwingVision for game analysis.  

Finally, with the AMPLIFY relaunch, USTA Florida has revised the webpage, creating a new home for everything AMPLIFY related. Want to get involved with coaching, volunteering, certifications? Want to listen to our podcast about Increasing African American Tennis Participation at HBCUs? Visit ustaflorida.com/amplify for more information.