Ten young people ages 10 to 18 from National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) chapters around the country have been selected as this year’s recipients of the NJTL Essay Grant.
Typically honored during the US Open, this year’s grant recipients will be celebrated in a virtual ceremony on Sept. 26 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Special guests scheduled to appear at the ceremony include current USTA Foundation Chairperson and 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, former USTA Foundation Chairperson James Blake, and Daymond John of ABC’s Shark Tank, a member of the USTA Foundation’s Celebrity Council.
Slated to give this year’s keynote address are WWE superstar Thaddeus M. Bullard, known as Titus O’Neil in the ring, and Dr. Terri Cooper, Chief Inclusion Officer of presenting sponsor Deloitte.
“Now more than ever, we are committed to help students from different backgrounds advance their education and become future leaders, both on and off the court,” Cooper said.
“We are proud of our work with the USTA Foundation and look forward to celebrating all of the 2020 essay grant awardees in a new special virtual ceremony.”
This year’s essay question asked, ’Everyone measures success differently. How do you strive for success in terms of your character development, education or tennis?’ To apply, students were asked to answer in fewer than 350 words, and the winners of the 22nd annual edition this year were selected from over 1,000 entries.
“The NJTL essay grant awards ceremony is always an event the entire Foundation looks forward to each year as deserving students across different age groups and regions come together to celebrate their collective accomplishments,” said Dan Faber, Executive Director, USTA Foundation.
“While we will be celebrating virtually this year, we are once again looking forward to creating a special experience for these students and, in the spirit of this year’s essay topic, awarding them for their current and future success.”
Each essay author’s NJTL chapter will receive a $6,000 total directed grant. A total of $5,000 will be utilized to support the essay author’s in chapter-related programming participation costs and expenses and $1,000 will be utilized by the chapter for the administration of the same.
The ten awardees of the 2020 NJTL Essay Grant were selected in the following categories:
