Hawai‘i Tennis Patrons Association

Area of Focus: Youth in very low-income areas in Kalihi Valley, Waianae, and Waimanalo
Website: None

Hawai‘i Tennis Patrons Association (HTPA) partners with Kōkua Kalihi Valley for an after school program for Kalihi Valley youth ages 6 to 14. This program combines academic tutoring, social skill development, and tennis instruction and play. Tennis is used both as a reward for attendance and as a method of teaching fair play and sportsmanship. The program serves about 30 to 40 children and youth, most of who are Pacific Islanders from low-income housing projects. Between 1990 and 2002, approximately 400 children have participated in the program. Some of the participants return as adult volunteers.

HTPA partners with the Boys and Girls Club in Wai‘ianae in a similar effort, and there they serve approximately 150 to 200 children and youth. HTPA has been trying to start a program in Waimanalo, but no agency comparable to Kōkua Kalihi Valley or the Boys and Girls Club is sited there. In January 2007, however, Bob Keanui, who is from Waimānalo and has run a similar program in Kāne‘ohe, will take on the Waimānalo program. Working with the Department of Parks and Recreation and the elementary school, HTPA hopes that the program will take root among Waimānalo youth as well.