I'm sure most of you don't know but I'm a founding member of the newly-formed Ft. Greene Tennis Association (FGTA) based in Brooklyn, NY and we're hosting our first ever fundraiser tomorrow!
The group is comprised of tennis enthusiasts - like yours truly - who play at the park and want to encourage health and wellness in the community through tennis-related activities. One of our first goals is to get the six courts at Ft. Greene Park renovated to make the playing experience more enjoyable and safer for all.
Here's an image showing the extreme wear-and-tear of our beloved courts:
Pretty nasty, eh? The city of New York has the repairs of these tennis courts on their long list of priorities next to, uh, noise and picking up your pooch's poop. Translation: it's not a priority. At all.
It's up to the tennis-playing community and those who love the game to get these courts repaired.
So, if you're in the area we'd love to see you there. It's taking place at The General Greene located at 229 DeKalb Ave. from 5:30pm - 8pm. There's a $15 donation at the door to support the efforts of the FGTA and raffle prizes will be given out every half hour (read: some tix to the BNP Paribas Billie Jean King Cup for instance.)
Click here to visit our website to learn more about our group. You can also sign the petition to help bring awareness to our efforts and offer support to the cause.
Also, if you're involved in any activities at a local level that help grow the game of tennis in your communities I'd love to hear all about it and share your experiences with other readers!!!
[Photo(s): FGTA]
Congrats, Richie! And good luck on your event tonight.
ReplyDeleteI was involved with something similar about fifteen to twenty years ago. Granted, times, technology, and the state of the economy were much different then, but here's my two cents. Erm, make that $1.50!
You've probably already done all of this, but...
We did buckets of research. On how publicly accessible sports facilities available to the community would decrease crime, increase family "togetherness", etc. That's always a major concern to public officials. Then we bugged our city/borough councilpersons (who represented our district) to death until we could get a meeting with them, present our information, and get at least one of them on our side. That led to some PIAC (public interest) funding. We also presented the same information to the local philanthropists in our community. In NY, you should have about a million of them! :D We also went to any university within 100 miles, and spoke to the tennis coaches. Many of them were former ATPers, who had some great connections.
You might consider e-mailing Billie Jean daily (until you get her attention.) There's nothing she won't do to support tennis.
Like I said, you have probably already done most of that, but it can't hurt to pass that info on to you any way, just in case.
Oh, BTW, we did get our courts updated, and it really did help bring the inner city back to life. We got our Parks & Rec department to shut it down and lock it nightly, and open it up in the mornings. At that time, our city's legal department was adamant that the city had to be responsible for opening and closing. Not sure if that applies in your case, but if it does, that's how we resolved it.
natch: thank you so much for sharing! it sounds like the exact process we're undergoing. we were able to meet with our council person back in december and she was excited about our efforts. of course, funding of any kind is scare right now but we are looking to reach out to philanthropists, local businesses, etc. to help with the efforts.
ReplyDeleteat the moment it seems like such a daunting task but ultimately it benefits not only the players but the community at large as you mentioned.
thanks again for the advice!!!
cool, rich. i'm currently in hell's kitchen, but my lease is up in may and i'll probably be moving back to brooklyn - maybe clinton hill. i've played in fort greene, but not since summer 2008. would love to be involved in this in any way.
ReplyDeletemy email is andy.schlesinger@gmail.com. i'd love it if you'd contact me with some information. thanks -
andy
RiCHie!
ReplyDeleteHow did your event go?
Hey DtL readers, check this out:
ReplyDeletehttp://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/tennis-fundraiser-nets-dozens/