Meet DJ Spigner, graduating class of 2022. For DJ, tennis is the vehicle and motivation for excellence, affording him new experiences as he trains toward his college goal, the University of Southern California. DJ is ranked in the top 100 nationally for his age. He’s an active member of the USTA Foundation’s Excellence Program, an initiative designed to provide select talented students from NJTL chapters with high-performance training.
DJ’s mom, Simone, is a former NJTL student and collegiate tennis scholarship recipient herself. She traded her roller skates for tennis shoes to play on the clay courts of Lincoln Terrace in Brooklyn, NY when she was 12. “The network and education tennis gives to kids - my own and those I coach - is just incredible!” she says.
Now a coach, Simone beams when she talks about not only her son and her daughter, Shana, but the students she’s coached for the last 30 years on public courts in Harlem. On and off the court, Simone has dedicated her life and career to championing opportunities for local kids.
“Tennis has given so much to my family, my kids,” Simone said. “You see the impact it makes on students who walk onto the courts.”
The Spigner Family is special and this tennis force began with the patriarch, Bob. Known as ‘Grandpa’ to DJ, Bob is ‘Coach Spigner’ to the hundreds of thousands of New York City youth he’s impacted through 50 years of tennis.
“I was on a plane recently, and wouldn't you know it, but from the other side of the aisle I hear ‘Coach Spigner?’” Bob said. “He recognized my voice. That young man is a policeman today.”
Because of Bob, Simone, you and your support, the USTAF community is thriving.
Will you make a special year-end donation today and help us meet our goal - the gift of tennis and education? You’ll help provide opportunities for academic tutoring, group tennis instruction from coaches like Simone and Bob, college scholarships, and leadership lessons to kids like DJ that last a lifetime.
DJ, Simone, Bob, and our program leaders, tutors, coaches, parents and volunteers – our nationwide family that work to serve our kids - join us in thanking you. You help strengthen and inspire kids to serve up more dreams!
With gratitude,
