2024 Billie Jean King Cup players welcome NJTL kids for clinic at USTA National Campus

LAKE NONA, Fla. - On Wednesday, the home of American tennis was also the home of the sport's next generation.

Ahead of this weekend's Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier between the U.S. and Belgium, American team members Caroline Dolehide, Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend, hitting partner Clervie Ngounoue, and team captain Lindsay Davenport got on court with nearly 50 kids from a pair of local USTA Foundation National Junior Tennis and Learning chapters—Posh Rock Tennis Foundation and the Rock Lake Community Center—for a pre-event tennis clinic.

Under bright sunshine and blue skies, the pros took turns trading volleys with smiling youngsters with lower-compression balls and courts and racquets sized specifically for them, all in the name of fostering excitement for the game for even the smallest of players. 

"For this group of young women that are here, I think it's very obvious to them that getting more people to play the sport is a great thing," first-year captain Davenport said. "We all realize what great opportunities were were given because we got a racquet into our hands at a certain age. 

"In this country, how do we get more kids to choose this sport? Getting tennis exposure to kids that otherwise might not have it ... that's the goal: giving them the ability to get out there and see that this might be the sport for them."

The Orlando-based NJTLs are two of more than 250 chapters around the country that provide under-resourced youth with free or low-cost tennis and education services each year. In 2023, for example, the Posh Rock Tennis Foundation provided 500 student-athletes in and around the Orlando area with a combined 500 hours of tennis and education programming, 95% of which hail from diverse populations. 

"We're so excited to have our NJTL youth experience world-class tennis and play with legends … I think it'll really inspire them on and off the court," Rob Howland, the USTA Foundation's senior director for programs and social impact, said.

"Tennis offers a full array of sports-based youth development opportunities–teaching life skills, discipline, strategy, and not to mention all the health benefits. So it really can change a life just by putting a racquet in the hand of a kid."