By Ashley Marshall, USTAFoundation.com
Under-resourced children across America will continue to benefit from educational programing and tennis equipment in the third year of the USTA Foundation’s partnership with Emirates Airline.
Once again in 2015, Emirates Airline, the title sponsor of the Emirates AIrline US Open Series, will partner with the USTA Foundation, the national charitable arm of the USTA, to deliver tennis and education to children across North America.
The venture is part of “Emirates Returns,” a grass-roots initiative that serves up tennis and learning in the seven cities hosting Series tournaments this summer. The total contribution across all Series events over the three years of the program will eclipse $400,000 in 2015.
New for this year, Emirates will recognize mentors that have made a difference within their respective charitable organization and community by awarding the individual with a VIP weekend at the 2015 US Open, where they’ll get a behind-the-scenes tour and the chance to meet a tennis legend. In addition, children from each event’s organization will take part in a special clinic with an ATP or WTA professional in their host city.
| TOURNAMENT |
CHARITABLE PARTNER |
CLINIC DATE |
2015 Emirates Returns Events
| BB&T ATLANTA OPEN |
YMCA of Metro Atlanta |
July 27 |
| BANK OF THE WEST CLASSC |
East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring |
Aug. 5 |
| ROGERS CUP TORONTO |
Doug Philpott Inner-City Fund |
Aug. 11 |
| ROGERS CUP MONTREAL |
Park Extension Youth Organization |
Aug. 12 |
| WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN |
Tennis for Charity |
Aug. 20 |
| CONNECTICUT OPEN |
New Haven Youth Tennis and Education |
Aug. 25 |
| WINSTON-SALEM OPEN |
Winston-Salem Young Folks Tennis |
Aug. 2 |
“Emirates is a connector of people, places and passions,” said Boutros Boutros, the divisional senior vice president of corporate communications at Emirates. “The Emirates Returns program enriches the lives of young people throughout North America by connecting them with a sport they can enjoy for many years to come. This is one of our favorite parts of sponsoring the Emirates Airline US Open Series and a highlight of our seven-year partnership with the USTA.”
In each Emirates Airline US Open Series market – Atlanta; Palo Alto, Calif.; Toronto; Montreal; Cincinnati; New Haven, Conn; and Winston-Salem, N.C. – Emirates provides charitable donations in the form of grants for educational programming, new tennis equipment and facility improvements.
“We are grateful for Emirates Airline’s generous support and commitment to the USTA’s mission of making the game more accessible for children and using tennis to have a positive impact on the community,” said Emirates Airline US Open Series General Manager J. Wayne Richmond.
The USTA Foundation supports under-resourced youth; individuals with disabilities; and wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. To date, it has awarded more than $19 million in grants and scholarships to hundreds of programs, benefitting thousands of children and adults through a tennis, education and health curricula.
For more information on USTA Foundation, visit www.ustafoundation.com. And to donate to support the Foundation's mission, click here.
The 2015 Emirates Airline US Open Series, a group of seven hard-court tournaments held over five weeks across North America, begins July 27 in Atlanta. The Series concludes at the US Open, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 in New York City.