10 Year Anniversary Virtual Benefit a Resounding Success

On Thursday, October 22nd, Kings County Tennis League celebrated 10 years of free tennis and educational programming with a virtual fundraiser!

Over 170 attendees tuned in as KCTL student Emcees, Amina and Bakari, guided viewers through an engaging program of student, parent, volunteer, and staff video testimonials AND a special message from World #4, ESPN Tennis Analyst, and past Chairperson of the USTA Foundation Board, James Blake.

As of Friday, October 23rd, the 10 Year Anniversary campaign raised $97,334!

A special thank you goes to Presenting Sponsors: Helena Lee and Richard Klapper along with Karen and Sam Seymour.

Another big thank you goes to our community sponsors and organizational partners: the Junior Tennis Foundation, ProtoStar Group, Break the Love, the BK Reader, Fort Greene Tennis Association, Franklin Templeton, WingoNYC, and the USTA Foundation. 

If you wanted to support the event but didn’t have a chance to make a donation, you can still give by going to give.classy.org/kctl10years.

Catch the event replay by clicking on the image in this post or going to https://vimeo.com/471446643

Get to know KCTL’s New Partner: FURI Sport

We’re excited to announce a new partnership with FURI Sport, an equipment and lifestyle brand based in New York City! This year, FURI Sport will be generously donating 100 of its newly developed FURI Sport children’s tennis racquets to KCTL students.

“We are honored to be chosen as one of the first partners of FURI Sport's Give-Back Program," said David Webley, Executive Director of Kings County Tennis League. "FURI Sport is a Brooklyn-born company co-founded by Erick Mathelier, who grew up here and whose tennis story will surely inspire our students."

To get to know Erick and FURI Sport a bit better, we asked him a few questions about his experience playing tennis and the company. Check out the interview below:

KCTL: What is your tennis background? 

Erick: Actually, baseball was my first love, and before I became a New York Yankee fan, I loved the San Francisco Giants, go figure—a big Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell fan. I played little league baseball until the age of 10 years old.

I grew up in East Flatbush, BK, and in 1989 New York City was dealing with a lot of racial issues, which plagued the city. One incident, in particular, was the killing of Yusef Hawkin in Bensonhurst, a predominantly Italian-American working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn. I played on a little league team in Sheepshead Bay, BK. Due to the killing of Yusef Hawkin, my family was scared for me because I was one of two black kids on an all-white team. In retrospect, I think they probably felt I wouldn't know how to handle that situation, so I had to stop playing baseball.

I was an active kid, so I needed to find another sport. I started to get into basketball, which I still love to this day, but for some reason, I randomly decided to take up tennis. Prior to that, I didn’t really follow the sport, but for whatever reason, I went ahead and tried it. I started taking lessons at the age of 10 years old once a week at The Prospect Park Tennis Center, which was a 45-minute walk since my family did not own a car. I took lessons once a week for 3 years.

At the age of 13, I wanted to improve and take the sport more seriously. So, my mother and I sat down with my coach at the time, and we had a meeting of the minds. What came out of that meeting was that in order for me to improve, I needed to play more than once a week, and we mapped out a plan. After that meeting, I spoke to my mom, and she basically said if this is what you want to do, I will do my best to support this endeavor, so in the summer of 1993, I enrolled in my first tennis camp and got to work! My goal was to improve as quickly as possible and become the best tennis player I could be. 

Within a year of taking the sport seriously, I improved enough to be selected to play in my first international tournament in Bermuda, which was also my first time on an airplane at the age of 14 years old. This for me was a feat in itself to be able to fly to another country to actually play a tennis tournament. So, I was super excited. 

During the subsequent years, I played junior tournaments, and High School tennis. I ultimately landed a D1 tennis scholarship to St. Francis College, where I played #2 singles for all 3 years I played on the team until I graduated in 2000. 

Post-college, I played recreationally, and actually had stopped playing tennis for 5 years. I took up the sport again when I co-founded FURI Sport. It’s been an interesting journey, 31 years since I first picked up a racquet and fell in love with the sport. 

KCTL: How was FURI Sport created and what inspired you to create your tennis racquet?

Erick: Back in December 2015, I was down in Miami, FL for Art Basel, doing an event with Airbnb for my previous start-up. While I was there, my friend and now business partner Michelle Spiro called and pitched me this idea about creating a new tennis racquet, which to me at the time was completely crazy! Not only had I stopped playing tennis, I did not even know where to start. Michelle knew my back story of growing up in East Flatbush, BK in a Caribbean household (my family is from Haiti) and how tennis transformed the trajectory of my life. We recognized that this could be a spark to starting a new brand, which would eventually become FURI Sport. 

Luckily, a few months prior to Michelle calling me, I reconnected with a childhood friend who I grew up playing tennis with at Prospect Park Tennis Center, but is now a Master Racquet Technician. When I pitched my friend on the idea of manufacturing a new tennis racquet, he immediately told me that I was nuts! He said, “Unless you are doing something different, something that has that “ooh ah” feeling, don’t even bother.” Tennis is a niche category that’s dominated primarily by three big brands (Babolat, Head, and Wilson), so for us that was the challenge— how do we build a new brand that can shake up a sleepy category, and actually get players to take you seriously and get excited about the sport.

What excites and inspires us, and is the drive to why we wanted to start FURI Sport, is the thought of “reimagining” the culture of tennis. We want to transform the way tennis is viewed and played. We believe that tennis is not only an elite or country club sport. It's a sport for a kid from Brooklyn too. Our goal is to create racquets, equipment, and apparel that are obviously high quality and improve your game. But more than that, we want to create a community of people from all different backgrounds that can come together and feel at home in the sport we love.

KCTL: What aspect of FURI Sport’s partnership with KCTL are you most excited about? 

Erick: Equipping the kids of KCTL with high-quality equipment is one aspect of the partnership that excites me, but I would say connecting with the children in a mentor-type role excites me the most. Growing-up in a similar environment in Brooklyn until I was 15 years old, I can definitely relate to the day-to-day challenges they are facing. Tennis has the potential to be the great equalizer that opens doors, teaches them life skills, and most importantly helps expand their world. I want to help them achieve their goals. 

KCTL: What is your favorite spot (e.g. restaurant, bae, Park, Street, building, etc.) in Brooklyn? 

Erick: One of my favorite spots in Brooklyn is “The Brooklyn Heights Promenade”. It brings back a lot of great memories and has beautiful views of the East River and Lower Manhattan.

Kings County Tennis League and the Junior Tennis Foundation Forge New Partnership

Kings County Tennis League (KCTL) and the Junior Tennis Foundation (JTF) are thrilled to announce a new partnership, which was commemorated with JTF’s generous $3,500 donation to KCTL Cares, the fundraising campaign that supports the ongoing needs of our students’ families during the COVID-19 pandemic and the virtual tennis and education programs KCTL offers students while social distancing restrictions are in place.

“KCTL spent the last decade tearing down the divisive barriers that blocked tennis and other opportunities from reaching the children of Central Brooklyn living in public housing,” said David Webley, executive director of KCTL. “Our mission is well-aligned with the Junior Tennis Foundation and we are looking forward to accomplishing great things together.”

Founded in 1979, the Junior Tennis Foundation supports tennis programs and scholarships benefiting under-resourced youth and people with physical and cognitive disabilities. 

“We are living in extraordinary times as our country begins to take responsibility for the structural racism that’s been threaded into America’s fabric for far too long,” said Mark McIntyre, executive director of the Junior Tennis Foundation. “More than 85% of KCTL’s students are children of color and 40% live in public housing. This support is the first of many actions we will take to ensure access to tennis regardless of one’s color or zip code and to create much needed systemic change.”

To our Community: A letter from KCTL's Executive Director

Dear KCTL Family,

On May 25, 2020, the senseless killing of George Floyd by four police officers in Minneapolis was filmed and viewed by millions of people across America and around the world. Their blatant disregard of George’s pleas for life led to his tragic death, which was preceded by the unjust deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson and countless black people across our communities. Their deaths expose the undeniable lethality of racism that America has yet to confront, and the need for full accountability.

Over the last several weeks, these events, as well as the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, have devastated Black and Latino communities. KCTL feels the unbearable pain that our community endures and we stand, as always, against any structural organization or system that routinely disenfranchises or discriminates against them. KCTL will always support our communities’ desire to peacefully communicate our shared frustrations. We stand in solidarity with our students, their families and our neighbors across Brooklyn. We are watching, we are listening, and we are in solidarity.

I can promise you that our solidarity will not relent. Please know that we are by your side, standing firm, and want to help create change that is long overdue.

With love,

Dave Webley

Executive Director, Kings County Tennis League