USTA National Body Receives ESPN Humanitarian Award, $100K for NJTL Network

The USTA national body was honored on Tuesday when the 3rd annual Sports Humanitarian Awards presented by ESPN were hosted by Laila Ali and Mike Greenberg in Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE’s The Novo, celebrating those who have used the power of sports to make a positive impact on society.

The USTA national body received the League Humanitarian Leadership Award for driving social impact by providing more than 300,000 under-resourced children with 165,000 hours of critical programming in 2016.

The USTA Foundation supports the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network of more than 500 chapters that offers free or low-cost after-school tennis as a way to engage underserved youth to stay in school and build their potential on and off the court. Between 80-90 percent of youth who participate report improvements in learning core educational components, self-confidence, decision-making and physical activity. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the seniors graduate from high school and 90 percent of their scholarship recipients attend college for four years.

“We are extremely grateful to those who have supported our efforts in everything we do, from improving the organizational infrastructures of NJTLs through funding and technical support, to offering college scholarships so students can successfully excel in their academic endeavors,” said Dan Faber, executive director, USTA Foundation. “The USTA Foundation would like to thank USTA Executive Director and COO Gordon Smith, the USTA Foundation Board of Directors and USTA Foundation President Thomas Chen, and USTA President and CEO Katrina Adams for continuing to advocate and support our mission. Lastly, a special thank you to former USTA President Judy Levering for establishing the USTA Foundation back in 1994 and for her ongoing passion and commitment. Judy’s vision made it all happen.” 

The USTA will be able to direct a $100,000 grant from ESPN to the qualified charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts.
 
More than $1.1 million was raised through the Sports Humanitarian Awards, which will benefit the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund at The V Foundation. Additionally, ESPN will grant an additional $1 million to the charities of the nominees and winners. In total, more than $2 million will be distributed to the community as a result of the initiative.
 
“The very best of what sports can do was on full display at the 3rd annual Sports Humanitarian Awards,” said Kevin Martinez, ESPN vice president, corporate citizenship. “The collective devotion demonstrated by these individuals, teams, leagues and companies to use their platforms to improve society illustrates an important link to the trailblazing spirit and incomparable legacy of Muhammad Ali.”

Highlights of the show will air July 25 on ESPN. For more info go to www.espn.com.