A major objective of each year's Ojai tennis tournament, hosted by the Ojai Valley Tennis Club (OVTC), is to raise funds to conduct and support various programs for the development of young tennis players in the Ojai Valley. This goal is accomplished through the OVTC's Youth Tennis Committee, which solicits additional funding and manages the program.

The all-volunteer OVTC Youth Tennis Committee works with the Ojai Unified School District, the City of Ojai Recreation Department, and several local teaching pros to introduce, develop, and popularize tennis for children of all ages.

Instruction is initiated in elementary schools by experienced volunteer Tennis Committee members to introduce basic skills and show how much fun the game is. Funding is provided to the Ojai Recreation Department to teach tennis at the beginner and advanced levels, conduct a summer program, and an after-school tennis league for youngsters to taste competition for the first time and to learn the values of teamwork and good sportsmanship.

Financial awards are presented to worthy youngsters to participate in a number of tennis clinics, camps, academies, and individual professional tennis instruction for further specialized training, development and competition. These awards are made to Ojai Valley youth, determined by the Youth Tennis Committee, based upon a variety of factors; such as sportsmanship, motivation, demonstrated talent, potential to advance in competition, and financial need. Several of the recipients of these awards in the past will be playing in THE OJAI this year or have gone on to compete at the college level.

The Youth Tennis Committee volunteers also organize and host the High Performance Tennis Clinic, utilizing professional coaches to develop competitive strategies and skills of invited top-ranked junior players in the region.

A number of special sportsmanship awards and summer tennis camp opportunities are presented at the traditional Thursday evening barbeque during THE OJAI Tournament to boys and girls who have participated in the various youth tennis programs.

These programs for our youth are made possible by the generous contributions of sponsors and citizens of the community. Sponsors such as the Monroe Foundation and Mike Taggart (a local tennis fan) and THE OJAI Tournament contribute about $35,000 per year. The quality of the programs and success of reaching and influencing more kids is dependent, however, on private donations. Since this is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, every penny donated goes directly to benefit the youth.

If you would like to help develop character and enrich the lives of our youth to combat juvenile delinquency, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to support the Youth Tennis program. Please send your check payable to: OVTC Youth Tennis and send it to:

Youth Tennis Committee

P.O. Box 482

Ojai, CA 93024