A perfect match.

For many city kids, advanced tennis training can be prohibitively expensive. The costs of year-round coaching, court time, travel and tournament fees are far beyond the reach of many inner-city youngsters. Since 1986, the Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy in New York City has helped to defray the high cost of advanced tennis training by providing an annual scholarship of free coaching, equipment, and tournament travel expenses for 50 youngsters ages eight to 18, selected at open tryouts held at the USTA National Tennis Center.

The program has since helped open the door for hundreds of economically underprivileged youngsters to develop the skills and self-confidence needed to become tournament-level players. Reebok's expanded sponsorship of the program this year to Washington, D.C. will provide the children of this city with the same opportunity.

The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy, administered by The Washington Tennis Foundation and supported by Reebok International Ltd., provides full scholarships of advanced coaching, equipment and tournament expenses for 25 juniors each year. "The aim of the program is to develop the native talent of our local players," said Albert Tucker, the foundation's director of programs.

"In addition," continued Tucker, "The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy offers opportunities for talented area youngsters who would normally be unable to pay for this level of tennis training."

"The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy is an excellent way to provide more and more aspiring young tennis players with a chance to reach what before was a financially unattainable goal--to excel in tennis," said Mark Holtzman, senior director of sports marketing for Reebok International Ltd. "Reebok is proud to be a part of this program and the development of its young participants."

"Tennis can be a terrific springboard for dedicated youngsters who are willing to put in the time and effort to become competitive players," Tucker said. "This program exposes youngsters to the sport's social and athletic benefits, and gives participants a chance to possibly earn a collegiate tennis scholarship."

Tryouts to select the 25 children took place in July 1992. Applicants performed drills in ground strokes, volleying and serving in front of a panel of judges including tennis professionals and instructors. Players who excelled during the first day of drills were called back for a second day of tryouts.

As sponsor of the academy, Reebok International was guaranteed a flagship program which could draw from thousands of young players in school and neighborhood programs and in the Tennis Center programs of the Washington Tennis Foundation. But perhaps e deciding factor for Reebok was that the two organizations shared a common mission: Tennis for kids--for free.

Prior to establishing the Reebok Academy, the foundation provided a solid instructional component for beginner and intermediate players. The academy now serves as the pinnacle of these on-going programs.

Through its USTA/DC Public Schools Program, the Washington Tennis Foundation trains public school physical education teachers, then supports them with school assemblies, workshops, equipment, celebrity/guest instructors and the latest techniques for teaching tennis to kids. The foundation's first goal is to make the teachers enthusiastic about the game of tennis and then give them the means to pass that enthusiasm along to their students.

The foundation's AfterSchool program plays during the spring and fall. Through this program, the foundation teaches tennis to hundreds of eight -- to 18-year-old children at D.C. Department of Recreation sites and at local schools. Beginning players and experienced players are divided into separate classes, each learning for one hour, twice a week. While all of the foundation's programs remain low cost, the foundation offers the AfterSchool Program at no cost to participants.

The foundation also administers the USTA National Junior Tennis League in Washington. The NJTL format is designed to respond to the reasons most youngsters give for playing sports: to be with friends; to learn new skills; to have fun. Team uniforms and league competition motivate kids to stay with the program. In the National Junior Tennis League, the focus is on the beginner. Drills and games, simplified rules and scoring, and match play motivate new players. Competition is kept in proportion to players' abilities and commitment. Children who excel can be directed to more intense competition or to other, more advanced programs such as the Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy. But even for those children who participate in NJTL only to pursue tennis seasonally or recreationally, the league will still provide healthy physical activity and socializing.

In 1992, the Washington Tennis Foundation piloted a "Short Court Competitive Program," as a stepping stone to its AfterSchool Program. The program provides physical education instructors and elementary school teachers with the skills, equipment and funding to include short-court tennis as part of their regularly scheduled course offerings. The program recognizes that school gyms, multi-purpose rooms and playgrounds are an ideal place to introduce children to the sport in an atmosphere of fun and camaraderie.

Competitive tennis was non-existent at the junior high school level until, as a follow-up to the USTA/DC Public Schools Program, the Washington Tennis Foundation organized the Junior High Schools Club Program.

The foundation continues its mission in the schools with a senior high program. The goal of the High School Varsity Program is to prepare students for the challenges of tennis at the collegiate level. To this end, the program improves the technical ability of participants, and provides them with information on college scholarships, NCAA regulations, and prospective schools.

WTF's Tennis Center Junior Development Programs are Washington's only year-round, public tennis programs for children. Experienced, accredited professionals teach participants at an award-winning, state-of-the-art facility. As with all Washington Tennis Foundation programs, admission to the Tennis Center programs is never denied to a child on the basis of that child's financial disadvantages.

The academy currently has two young men, Jamal Johnson, a high school senior, and Vincent Boggs, a high school junior, who have tremendous achievements. Jamal Johnson started with the Washington Tennis Foundation's programs in 1985 and is an excellent example of a WTF success story. Jamal started in the Foundation's community based program at Edgewood Recreational Center with the National Junior Tennis League (NJTL). He was recommended by Ted Edly, one of the foundation's dedicated volunteers, to the programs held at the Tennis Center. Jamal received scholarship assistance for the foundation's Tennis Center programs, where he began in the beginner class. Jamal proceeded to work his way up through the skill levels until he reached the program's highest level, called Advanced Drill Star/Championship Drill.

In June 1992, Jamal qualified to be a member of the Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy. Jamal has earned the USTA's number one ranking in Washington, D.C. in the boy's 18s division. He also won Washington, D.C.'s high school league Inter High Championships as a sophomore and junior, and looks to defending his title as a senior. Recently, Jamal has received tennis scholarship offers from Florida A&M, Norfolk State University and Temple University.

Jamal's work and achievement is an excellent example of fulfilling the foundation's mission. Says Jamal: "I have been involved in the foundation's programs for seven years. Throughout these years of progress, I have learned the game of tennis as well as sportsmanship. The programs at the foundation are unique and the best when it comes to interacting with inner city youths. The foundation is a great way for every youngster to learn the values of teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship. "

Vincent Boggs is another example of the Reebok Urban Tennis Academy's success. Vincent initially learned tennis from his father. At the age of 12, Vincent joined the Washington Tennis Foundation's Tennis Center Program through scholarship assistance. The skills Vincent learned from his father and the Tennis Center programs helped qualify him for the Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy. Recently, Vincent earned the USTA's number five ranking in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the boys 16s division. Vincent is also seeded number one on his high school's team. Vincent is looking forward to several scholarship offers.

The academy's youngest participant, eight-year-old Shenay Perry, is a shining example of what the combination of the foundation and Reebok can produce. Shenay was a finalist at the American Tennis Association Nationals in Boston in both the ten-and-under and 12-and-under age groups. She has won many tournaments in her own age group and has now moved up to play in the 12-and-under age bracket of the United States Tennis Association. Shenay has indicated that being an academy team member has given her new inspiration to achieving her goals in tennis. "With the academy I can play with players much older than me."

Tryouts for the first year of the academy were held in June. More than 200 children attended. Of these, 50 were invited back for a second day of tryouts, and, based on personal interviews, from these we chose the 25 members of the Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy Class of 1992.

The academy will run for a full year with a schedule that will not conflict with the players' school work. The training includes practice, tournament play, conditioning, on-court stroke refinement, and video and computer analysis.

A number of top-rated tennis coaches and players have committed time to work with the academy members. Among them are Larry Strickland of Howard University and Helyn Edwards of American University. "It is a great honor to be able to work with the kids. I have been dreaming of this for years," said Strickland. "We are going to be a team by learning and getting the understanding of the game."

The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy hasn't yet produced a world-champion. What will happen if, in a few years, the academy hasn't produced a nationally ranked player? "The only question I'll ask," promises Al Tucker, academy director, "is how many of our kids went to college on a tennis scholarship."

The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy exists because kids need goals. it's all well and good to tell an eight-year-old that someday she'll get to college on a tennis scholarship. But along the way kids need encouragement; they need positive reinforcement. Tennis is fun, it's healthy, it teaches teamwork, it instills good sportsmanship. The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy teaches tennis to kids because winning is a habit. Even though learning to hit a fuzzy yellow ball doesn't teach kids how to solve life's problems, it does teach them that problems can be solved--with a lot of patience and a lot of practice.

The Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy teaches tennis to kids because tennis teaches kids to respect the player across the net, and kids who learn to respect others learn to respect themselves. Children who learn to respect themselves will make healthy choices throughout their lives.

In establishing the academy, Reebok was responding to a need. Perhaps not a well-stated need: Kids aren't always able to articulate what they need. But Reebok knows that there are children who see success in their neighborhoods measured by the clothes only the drug dealers can afford.

Around the country, there aren't many programs to compare with Washington's Reebok Urban Youth Tennis Academy. And so the Academy remains not just a goal for the young tennis players in Washington, D.C. but a goal for inner-city communities across the nation.