If you believe the adage "Reach for the stars because even if you only reach the treetops, look how far you have come," then it is quite evident that the current 369th armory renovation plans and reduction in the number of courts does not even reach the lowest tree branch!
A "Reach for the Stars" plan could put the 369th armory, Harlem, all the alphabet groups and politicos on the map in a way they have obviously never envisioned. Why settle for the norm? Spend that HIDTA money on renovating the armory into a first rate tennis facility, put in all the computer labs and learning centers and if it must be a multi-sport center, then let sports more compatible with tennis share the space.
Why not give youth and the Harlem community something innovative and something that they absolutely cannot find anywhere else? It is not a matter of money! In addition to tennis, why can't the Harlem 369th armory also be the place to plant the seed for the next Peter Westbrook and Sharon Monplaisir (Olympic fencers), Dominique Dawes and Jair Lynch (Olympic gymnasts), or Maurice Ashley, chess grandmaster, etc. Let youth reach for new stars... and if they only reach the treetops, look at the new worlds they have been exposed to!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with basketball and track and other sports traditionally readily available in inner cities. However, even today, as a 6' tall woman of color, people assume my sport is basketball; their next guess is track, and when I reply tennis, I see my stock go up in their eyes.
Immediately tennis elevates you into the treetops; and being a pro and participant in Grand Slams promotes you to the stars. Point being, treetops ain't bad. "Non traditional sports expose and elevate youth to new worlds. Just imagine what you would think of the armory if it had those unique opportunities?
So what does The Highlander have to do with the proposed basketball programs for the 369th armory? Not a thing! It does have everything to do with reaching for the stars, though. On board The Highlander, I entertained colleagues with stories from my pro tennis life and everyone was just as impressed that my Young Tennis Divas went from training with me at the 369th armory to center court Kids' Day at the Australian Open.
Talk of the armory also had one of the Yankee/Nets owners extolling the virtues of his family's experiences playing on the boards at the 369th, remembering how fast the balls skidded and recalling the many lessons coach Sidney Llewellen gave his family. I doubt they would return to the renovated armory to play tennis in the midst of basketball games and track and field activities, but they would return to play in a tennis environment alongside those compatible sports.
Though long retired from the pro tour, I still receive carte blanche at many of New York's finest tennis facilities and country clubs. Yet I selected the Harlem Tennis Center at the 369th armory as the training headquarters for the Young Tennis Divas program, because it was important for our young people to see and experience something outside the norm. Tennis gives kids a very different way to reach for the stars, which is why patrons put up with inconveniences at the 369th, a facility that is more than showing its age. We understood that no concessionaire with a one-year lease (or shorter) would spend money on renovations and it was the only indoor tennis in this part of town.
So now that all these people are interested and so excited about upgrading the 369th armory why don't they reach for the stars and stop hanging out on that same old branch? What a world the citizens of Harlem and youth would be exposed to. Oh, the possibilities!
(article courtesy of Tennis Week magazine, 06/26/01, pp. 3-4)
(emphasis, and some paragraph breaks, added by WebMaster)
Click here to learn more about the Harlem Tennis Center.