Beyond the Baseline: NYJTL’s Scholar Athletes Program Helping Students On and Off the Court

Empower Education and Opportunity Through Tennis.

When you visit the website of the New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL), that is the tagline that you are greeted with, imposed over the face of a smiling child. And for the last half century, that has been the mission of the NYJTL, to use tennis as a vehicle to provide children in NYC better educational opportunities.

And at the forefront of this is the organization’s Scholar Athlete Program, which was created with this idea in mind back in 2022. The program umbrellas all of NYJTL’s tennis and education offerings, and “highlights the significant benefits of providing greater frequency and depth of services to highly-engaged students”, according to the NYJTL website.

“The Scholar Athlete Program at NYJTL serves 75 low-income students from across the city and provides them rigorous tennis training and academic support,” said Raiyan Nafee, the Academic Program Director for the Scholar Athlete Program. “Students receive this support with the goal of helping them navigate their formative school years while also acting as a vehicle for them to attend college. Through the time that the students spend with their various coaches during their sessions, our students are developing the skills and knowledge base they need to be successful student athletes, no matter the grade.”

The program provides students in grades 3-12 with academic support and top-flight tennis instruction, with the goal of 100 percent of its members graduating high school and receiving entry into college.

The program has proven to be immensely successful over the last couple of years as NYJTL has helped its students get to the next level. For two outgoing seniors, this is especially true.

“I am very proud of all of our students for their dedication that they show for tennis, academics, and all their other extracurricular interests,” Nafee added. “Our students attend practice multiple times a week, but everyone takes the time to make sure they are also keeping up on their academics before practice starts by doing homework or studying for tests.”

Chantajah Mills is entering the final months of her high school tenure, and will be taking her tennis talents and strong academics to Texas State later this fall. Mills is one of the top-ranked players for her age, coming in at #11 in New York according to Tennis Recruiting.net. She is someone who embodies not just the Scholar Athlete Program but the mission of NYJTL as a whole, as she has shown incredible dedication to her tennis but also her academics, a main reason she chose Texas State.

“The combination of competitive tennis and academics was very important to me,” said Mills. “I wanted to attend a school that would not only develop me as a tennis player but prepare me for life after college.”

Mills, who is graduating from Beacon High School this spring, plans on studying and pursuing a career in physical therapy, and part of the reason she chose Texas State was because the school had one of the best Doctoral in Physical Therapy programs in the country. Beyond that, she felt a strong connection to the team, its campus and the school’s entire atmosphere, which she said made her decision an easy one.

“After communicating for some time, I was able to go on an official visit to Texas State, which was an experience I’ll never forget,” she said. “The school and the team resonated with me from the moment I set foot on campus. The nurturing atmosphere there solidified my decision, and I knew this was the place I wanted to spend the next four years. Two days after returning home from the visit, I verbally committed to Texas State.

The college recruitment process is oftentimes a stressful and time-consuming one, but the support system at NYJTL and the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, through its Scholar Athlete Program, has helped alleviate some of that angst, both for the players and their families.

The program not only guides them through communicating and appealing to colleges, but also providing experiences and education that will better prepare them for that next stage, and incentives a commitment to schooling. In the program, Scholar Athletes must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 and participate in at least 90 percent of program’s sessions, and the program has the goal of expanding to 100 students within it by 2026.

“NYJTL and The Cary Leeds Center have been incredibly supportive throughout my college process. They have offered extensive assistance with my college applications and essays, along with providing numerous scholarship opportunities,” Mills added. “When it came to creating my college recruitment video, I felt truly blessed to have them by my side. The coaches and staff not only helped me record the video but also guided me through the process, ensuring that I could effectively capture the attention of college recruiters.”

Mills sums up the Scholar Athlete Program succinctly:

“They have laid a solid foundation for me and my peers, preparing us for future success.”

Autumn Clarke is Mills’ peer and fellow senior who attends the Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. At the time of publication, Clarke has still not made her collegiate decision, but she has been fielding offers from some of the country’s top institutions, on an academic scholarship.

Clarke has received offers from Pepperdine University, Seton Hall University and Xavier University, among others, and has been the perfect representation of the NYJTL’s work.

“It wasn’t an easy process and I had to make sacrifices to get to where I want to be in this stage of my life, but I don’t regret a single decision as it has led me to this point,” said Clarke. “That being said, the journey is not over. I still have a lot of work to do, but I am extremely excited, and a little terrified, for the next stage of my life. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, turning point in my life, and I am ready for what’s to come.”

For Clarke, the NYJTL and the Cary Leeds Center not only helped with the application and communication part of dealing with colleges, but in general, the support and guidance they have given over the years has prepared her for the next stage.

“NYJTL and Cary Leeds have been extremely helpful. From the beginning of the college process I have received support in terms of how to manage my college process and specific schools that would best fit me as an individual,” Clarke added. “Over the last five months I have sent numerous essays, instantly recovering feedback and comments and how to enhance my essay and develop my points. I have also received many scholarship opportunities through Cary Leeds which has helped to better my college process experience.”

The objective of New York Junior Tennis & Learning is to develop the character of young people through tennis and education for a lifetime of success on and off the court, and in the years since it was founded it has done just that.

It continues to enhance its programming and offerings to better serve that objective, and the Scholar Athlete Program is the latest iteration of that, as it continues to use tennis to provide opportunities for the youth of New York City.

“During programming last year, Chantajah would come in early before her practice sessions and take extra classes remotely to stay ahead of schedule for her senior year and I am proud of her resilience and accomplishments,” said Nafee. “Autumn can be consistently seen before practice working on assignments, preparing for school, or spending this year working on her college applications. Their hard work has and will continue to pay off and I know they serve as great examples for the rest of our students.”