Background Information

Since 1972, The Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program (HJTEP) has touched the lives of over 4,600 children through competitive tennis instruction, academic support, personal and academic development. We believe that mastering the sport of tennis is exciting, but learning the value of discipline, teamwork and self-esteem are empowering! It’s all about acing opportunity.

HJTEP’s program offers support and guidance as New York City youth ages seven to eighteen develop commitment, responsibility and sportsmanship. Taking part in athletics teaches young people how to become resilient and use the sport of tennis to enhance their life skills.

Our mission is to bring tennis to youth from high-risk, low income inner-city neighborhoods that offer few opportunities for self-development, while highlighting education and a positive code of behavior. So while tennis is the focus of HJTEP, further developing the program’s educational component is vital to the continued success of all the participants.

Teaming up with you will allow HTJEP to further give our kids an opportunity to strive to be the best that they can be. We want our kids to excel on the tennis court as well as in the classroom.  With your support, we will be able to raise the bar in our program standards through quality staffing both on and off the court, and provide the guidance that these kids need to succeed in life. We are not just a program, but a way of life.

I am asking you to partner with the program by making a monetary donation. Your support will enable us to produce an even more amazing program with the ability to take the program to the next level. I would like to set up a meeting with you in the near future to discuss the opportunities for both you and the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program.

James Blake has been a role model for the kids in the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program. His unselfish will to give his time to our kids exemplifies the quality that you demand from your clients. We at the HJTEP also demand quality and appreciate Blake’s dedication to giving back to a program where he started.

We are asking you to support a program that is capable of raising a child to be a successful individual in life, just like a role model of HJTEP, James Blake.