Gerrod Travis, 13, of Pittsburgh has been named one of 10 national winners of the 2009 Arthur Ashe Essay Contest, sponsored by the United States Tennis Association (USTA). He will be treated to an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City Aug. 28-30, where he will attend the US Open, see a Broadway show and be a guest of honor at the Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the US Open.
Gerrod submitted his essay as part of a 12-week after-school tennis program last spring that was sponsored by the Highland Park Tennis Club, with assistance from the USTA. An average of 25 students from Sterrett Classical Academy attended each Wednesday’s sessions to learn more about the game of tennis and to improve their abilities.
Gerrod is the son of Roger and Gerry Travis of Elrod Way in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood. He will be accompanied to New York by his mother Gerry and they will stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, USTA’s Manhattan headquarters for the Open and its Semi-Annual Conference. Fred Crawford, president of the Highland Park Tennis Club, also will make the trip.
A beginning tennis player, Gerrod will be in the 7th grade at Sterrett this fall.
It was a fellow student at Sterrett, Sasha Lobel, who first proposed the after-school tennis program. He asked Assistant Principal Vickie Bey if he could organize a tennis club for the students and Ms. Bey contacted the Highland Park Tennis Club.
Beginning in February the Highland Park Tennis Club/Sterrett After School Tennis Program featured: the eight-week QuickStart Tennis teaching method, a unique, fun tournament, a party hosted by the Highland Park Tennis Club, and the essay contest.
This was an all-volunteer initiative by the Highland Park Tennis Club that included Crawford as well as Hanna Spearman, Jim Quigley, Larry Reed, Bob Gibbs and Gene Hambrick.Bob Ruzanic, the USTA’s Tennis Service Representative for Pittsburgh, also participated every week. 
All participants received a commemorative Highland Park Tennis Club/Sterrett Classical Academy T-shirt and a tennis racquet. During the program, at the party, and at the Sterrett Classical Academy Sports Banquet, the students told the Highland Park Tennis Club coaches how much they learned and their parents thanked the coaches and were thrilled with the effort and initiative.
In addition to learning the game of tennis, the Highland Park Tennis Club wanted to add an educational component. The 25 students were asked to participate in the USTA Arthur Ashe Essay and Art Contest. This year’s theme was “From what we get, we make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”
Eleven students participated. All submissions received a gift from the Highland Park Tennis Club. Submissions that met the USTA requirements were submitted for the national Arthur Ashe Essay and Art Contest for review.
The after-school program is one of a number of initiatives Highland Park started or enhanced in 2009. As Renee Bridges, USTA Middle States Diversity Manager, recently said, “The Highland Park Tennis Club is on a roll.”
Other items on the club’s busy agenda included:
- A free Saturday tennis clinic utilizing club volunteer coaches that attracted and average of more than 70 players of all ages and ability levels.
- Working with CitiParks (the Pittsburgh Parks and Recreation Department) to ensure that the Club’s Stanton Avenue courts were renovated. Today, these courts are some of the best hard courts in the Pittsburgh area.
- Provided outreach programs in coordination with the Frick Park Tennis Club.