The Saint Paul Urban Tennis Program was created in 1991 as a pilot project through the Northwest Tennis Patrons, now known as InnerCity Tennis. Lachlan Reed, the founder of the Inner City Tennis Program, donated $10,000 as the first seed money for the Saint Paul Urban Tennis Program. Under the guidance of Sandy Martin, three sites were chosen in an area of low-income housing where few opportunities existed for young people: The Bucky Olson Courts at Saint Paul Central, El Rio Vista, and Dayton's Bluff. These sites were chosen in order to focus on African-American, Hispanic, and Asian populations. During the first summer 125 young people participated in the program. In 2016 that number reached more than 2,500.
The following year Ernie Greene was asked to merge the Martin Luther King Tennis Buffs with Saint Paul Urban Tennis. At this point, our program really took off. Ernie helped increase participation, grow donations, and focused on instilling life skills into the curriculum.
Saint Paul Urban Tennis is a recognized charitable organization under section 501(c)(3). As a non-profit, we are able to raise funds and apply for grant funding to support our mission. Your donation helps us provide high quality youth programming to kids across Saint Paul, regardless of zip code or income.