Author: Belen Jordana

On February 4, 2024 United Tennis members participated in a free tennis clinic in Belmont, NC; which focused on training young people with some type of special abilities or conditions. The United Tennis coaches, Marta Gomez-Jordana and Belen Gomez-Jordana spent an hour playing tennis with the young participants. An experience that both described as “exceptional.”

“It’s incredible how much everyone enjoys playing tennis. This is an example that tennis is definitely a sport for everyone. Everyone can play it, everyone can have a good time playing it,” said Marta Gomez-Jordana.

In this volunteering activity both coaches were able to learn from other volunteers and coaches, who shared with them advice and experiences when working with athletes with special abilities.

United Tennis will have a free event to announce the two new tennis programs in the Charlotte area.  The event will be held at Veterans Memorial Park, Mint Hill on Saturday, February 24 from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be tennis classes and game stations, where each participating child can win gifts. The acting mayor of Mint Hill, as well as Mint Hill Commissioner Twanna Henderson and Mecklenburg Commissioner Susan Rodriguez McDowell confirmed their attendance at the event. We will also be accompanied by the group of athletes with Autism who will play tennis for the first time. Allan Jensen, USTA Southern Latin Liaison, and staff from Abilities Tennis NC will also be attending to make this a special event for everyone.

Do you want to start this New Year 2024 with new projects and goals? Is playing sports one of them? Why not… TENNIS? If you are interested in trying a new sport or continuing to practice tennis, come to our first event in Charlotte on February. The event will take place at the Veterans Park tennis courts in Mint Hill. After that, we will start having group classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and we will also offer private classes. Ages are from 4 years old to adults. If you want more information, want to register or register your children, you can contact us by sending an email to belenjordana@united-tennis.org or calling 501-398-1844.

Beginning in 2024, United Tennis will begin its “Tennis for All” program in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Thanks to the support and collaboration of the City of Mint Hill, more young people will start practicing this sport by paying a minimal and symbolic amount for classes. As in Gastonia, UTO wants to bring tennis to all children and young people and thus make it a more accessible sport. Among its participants, there will be boys and girls with special needs whose “Fighting Moms” are passionately advocating for their children to be included in society. United Tennis welcomes all children with open arms. The director of UTO program in Charlotte, Marta Gómez-Jordana spent time with them at a Christmas event that took place at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg library.

Our executive director, Belén Gómez-Jordana recently visited the studio of the American television channel WBTV, accompanied by George Anderson, head of the USTA North Carolina Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Both were interviewed live on the QC Life program. There, they talked about the efforts made by the USTA committee to make tennis a more inclusive sport, and they had the opportunity to explain what the “Tennis for All” program consists of and when it began. United Tennis Organization thanks WBTV for the opportunity they gave us to promote tennis and our organization. 

On December 21, 2023 Santa Claus made an early Christmas visit to United Tennis students. Santa shared time and took pictures with the students, and he also played tennis with them.  Santa also gave students more than one gift to each one. This is an activity that United Tennis has been carrying out for two consecutive years in collaboration with Toys For Tots Marine.  In this event, we were able to test Santa’s tennis skills! And, as we already know… tennis is for everyone!

Since October 2023, we have partnered with the Gaston County Parks and Recreation in North Carolina to provide our tennis classes and activities at the Dallas Park Tennis Courts, located in 1303 Dallas Cherryville Hwy, Dallas, NC 28034. We are very excited for this new location, which will allow us to reach out to more community members in Gaston County. We invited everyone that want to be part of our classes to come to our new locations, or contact us directly at (501) 398-1844 for further information about our activities.

On September 13, our Executive Director, Belén Gómez-Jordana received an email with this opening paragraph: “We are very happy to inform you that United Tennis Organization has been chosen as the winner of the 2023 USTA NC Diversity Outreach and Inclusion Award. It is an honor to recognize UTO and the valuable contributions you are making to tennis in North Carolina” (Morgan Brannon, USTA North Carolina). What a wonderful honor it was to receive those news!! Our organization received the award at the Community Development Workshop Awards Luncheon on Saturday, September 30, 2023, from 12:30-2pm. This event took place at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC. There are not enough words to thank our tennis players, parents, volunteers, donors, and USTA NC for helping us to advance tennis and make our community a healthier and better place to live. This first award is for you!!

For a second year in a row, United Tennis was part of the initiative Walk and Roll Together Gaston. The event was on October 7, 2023, and many of our students and their families were part of this fun walk in celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month. The main goal of this event it is to highlight the great contributions that the Hispanic community make in the Gaston County. We were able to walk and also play tennis at the event, since we brought some rackets, tennis balls, a small net, and overall a lot of enthusiasm!! As a nonprofit organization, our objective is to promote tennis among adults and the youth. Thank you to everyone who participated in this wonderful event!!