USTA HONORS NEWTOWN SQUARE RESIDENT CHRISTINE BECK WITH NJTL FOUNDERS’ SERVICE AWARD

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., March, 17, 2014 – The United States Tennis Association (USTA) today announced that Christine Beck of Newtown Square, Pa., was presented with the USTA National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) Founders’ Service Award. Beck was recognized for her outstanding contribution to helping grow tennis at the local level during an awards banquet at the USTA Annual Meeting and Conference March 15-17 at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.

This is the fourth year of the award, created to recognize an individual who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to positive youth development through tennis and education, delivers outstanding service to underserved children with free or low-cost tennis, and provides education and life-skills programming. The award is given to those best reflecting the values of NJTL founders Arthur Ashe, Charles Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder.

“I could not be more honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Beck. “I never imagined 44 years ago when we first decided to start the Philadelphia NJTL chapter that we could have helped guide and mentor so many inner city kids from the Philly area down the right path.”

Having met Arthur Ashe on the junior tennis tour, and discovering that they shared a birthday, Beck and Arthur’s friendship sparked a lifelong commitment to use tennis to influence lives and open doors to countless underprivileged children nationwide.  She has been dedicated to making it possible for young people of limited means to prepare to take leadership roles in society.  Christine and her husband Leif co-founded the Philadelphia NJTL in 1970, and it now operates under the umbrella of the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education reaching thousands of children each year. 

As President and CEO of Gesu School, an independent school in the Jesuit and IHM traditions, Beck has redefined inner-city education with a better than 90 percent high school graduation rate in a city with a high school graduation rate of 50 percent.

Beck has won many national and sectional awards as a result of her passion for improving the lives of Philadelphia’s youth.

“Christine has a tremendous love for the game, for education and for impacting the lives of children.  It shows in how much time and devotion she’s put into her volunteer work as co-founder of the Philadelphia NJTL chapter back in 1970,” said Dan Faber, Executive Director, USTA Serves. “Christine has positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of children, and her legacy reaches far beyond Philadelphia.”

The USTA Annual Meeting and Conference brings together USTA leadership, national staff, national committee members and section volunteers and staff in pursuit of the USTA mission: To promote and develop the growth of tennis. Along with leadership and committee meetings, the USTA AMC provides education opportunities for all attendees to develop and enhance their personal and professional skills and learn new ways to promote the game of tennis.

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The USTA/National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network is a nation-wide group of more than 630 non-profit youth development organizations that provide free or low cost tennis, education and life skills programming to more than 350,000 children each year.  NJTL develops the character of young people by emphasizing the ideals and life of co-founder Arthur Ashe. While NJTL’s vary in size and programming, this growing network shares a commitment to positive youth development, the importance of education and tennis as a lifetime sport.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level, from local communities to the highest level of the professional game.  A not-for-profit organization with more than 750,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s national charitable foundation, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.