Hispanic Heritage Month NJTL Spotlight: Multicultural Tennis Association

The Multicultural Tennis Association, a National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) chapter in Las Vegas, seeks to raise the profile of the sport in local Spanish-speaking communities — and for founder Carlos Mendez, his wife and their two children, Bella and Amadeo, the past six years of fulfilling that mission has been a true family affair.

“The genesis of it all was the fact that there weren’t enough affordable programs in our city. My daughter, at 6 years old, fell in love with the sport, but I didn’t fall in love with the cost," Mendez said with a laugh.

Having taken up tennis as a recreational hobby growing up in East Los Angeles, Mendez, who also played basketball, wanted youth in the area he now calls home to have an outlet that was not available to him at the same age.

“There were a few courts in some parks in East L.A., but those courts were closed,” he continued. “So that was the image I had growing up of tennis: not accessible, for the elite. When my daughter was introduced to tennis… we soon realized that we would probably have to sell our home or take out a huge line of credit to afford tennis lessons.

“As a family, we realized there was something wrong with that. If we were having hardships with these expensive lessons, then what was happening on the other side of town or in other areas? We embarked on what’s now become a lifelong journey, as a family, to share the sport and make it accessible. We identified local parks, partnered with the school districts and city programming, and we began to offer a free, introduction-to-tennis program for Title 1 [the largest federal aid program for public schools in the U.S.] schools. 

“Along with our volunteer coaches, we go to schools and put racquets in kids’ hands for the very first time... We do our best to let kids know that tennis is available for them."

Since its founding, the Multicultural Tennis Association has grown thanks in part to support from the USTA and the USTA Foundation. In 2018, it was one of 10 NJTL chapters which had their efforts to reach Hispanic youth in their respective communities supported by former USTA president Katrina Adams. Over the past six years, the chapter has evolved to include after-school programming in elementary and middle schools, and Mendez notes that its 'Padrinos de Tenis' program, which he describes as a "godparent initiative" that helps support young people in their tennis and education pursuits. 

"In our culture, padrinos are pretty much your religious parent, if you will. In absence of a parent, the godparent steps in and guides you through life," he said. 

"In our culture, we celebrate milestones with them, baptisms, First Communions, confirmations, and I thought, 'How can we create this for tennis? Let's go ahead approach this as a responsibility for parents, godparents or sponsors where they support our more advanced, high-performance Hispanic youth.'

Through this program, Mendez says he works to identify promising Hispanic players from across the United States and supports them and their families in various ways, including answering their questions, providing them access to equipment and offsetting entry costs for tournaments.

Passionate about growing the sport in Spanish-speaking communities both in the Las Vegas area and across the country, Mendez believes that growth can come with investment in five pillars by both the tennis establishment and families at home.