Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center

Sportsmen’s was founded in 1961 as the first indoor non-profit tennis club built in the US by and for the African American community. Since then, we have invested in and supported Boston’s most vulnerable low-income and minority youth and families. We offer free and low-cost afterschool and summer academic support and enrichment programs in partnership with the Boston Public Schools; mentoring; athletic opportunities, including instruction from top-level certified coaches; life-changing health and wellness programs through a partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH); and community building initiatives including Volley Against Violence, (VAV) our nationally-recognized program that brings police and young people together for play, dialogue, and understanding. Pre-covid, more than 5,000 young people and 1,000 adults participated in our programs and services each year. Our daily academic support program provides small-group English Language Arts, math and science instruction and individualized tutoring, using a Sportsmen’s-developed curriculum, aligned with MA Frameworks and statewide Common Core Standards, to expand rather than replicate classroom activities. The program also includes social emotional learning (SEL) and fitness. Our youth tennis programs place local, low-income and/or minority youth on an intentional developmental pathway to high performance, college/post-secondary level tennis. Over 300 adult members compete on over a dozen travel teams in the Dorothy Bruno, Central MA Indoor Tennis Association and US Tennis Association Leagues, enjoy contract time, private lessons and drop in clinics. We offer 3 summer programs for youth: a traditional summer camp, a Summer Learning Project in cooperation with the Boston Public Schools and Boston After School and Beyond, and a Tournament Training Camp for highly competitive players. Sportsmen's raises 60% of its operating budget through philanthropy; no child is turned away due to financial constraints.