It’ll be Wilmington to Wimbledon for Lenny Simpson

WILMINGTON, NC (ONE LOVE TENNIS RELEASE) — Yep.  Wilmington natives who both made their mark on black tennis history and traveled to Wimbledon, are going to England again…in a way.

Later this month, Executive Director of One Love Tennis, Lenny Simpson, along with filmmaker Rex Miller, will take ALTHEA across the pond. They will present the critically acclaimed film ALTHEA  at a private screening for club members at the exclusive All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of Wimbledon.

Simpson, who played in two US Opens and set a long standing record as the youngest male to win a match at the national championships in 1964, also qualified and went to Wimbledon.  Unfortunately, he was sidelined by a pulled stomach muscle and never played the famous grass courts.

But now, on September 22^nd, Simpson returns as an honored guest to the famous site of Wimbledon. The Club, who only has 375 full members, is also hosting the North Carolina guests for a luncheon and tour the day before and a dinner with the CEO after the screening.

The patrons of the All-England Club are Queen Elizabeth II and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and the President is The Duke of Kent. It is unclear at this time what royalty will be attending the screening.

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GIBSON BREAKING THE TENNIS COLOR BARRIER 

IN THE 1950 US NATIONALS 

VOTED #1 MOMENT 

IN BLACK TENNIS HISTORY

Three years after Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, tennis was still an all-white sport. But when the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association, America’s tennis governing body, bowed to pressure and let Gibson play in the tournament, tennis history was changed.

In February 2005, a USTA Blue Ribbon panel voted her appearance at the nationals the No. 1 moment in black tennis history, topping the founding of the American Tennis Association in 1916 and Arthur Ashe’s first U.S. Open crown in 1968.

During her first match a bolt of lightning struck and knocked a concrete eagle off the top of the stadium.  “It may have been an omen that times were changing.” said Gibson.

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 The AMERICAN TENNIS ASSOCIATION (ATA)

 is 100 years old!

 ATA is the oldest black sports organization in the United States. Established in 1916 when members of the Association Tennis Club of Washington, D.C., invited other black players and clubs to join the Association in forming a national tennis governing body for blacks. This new national organization sought to develop tennis among black people in the United States.

For 100 years the ATA has provided a social network for amateur players and training and experience for young talent before turning pro. The organization has produced some of the country’s top Black tennis talent on the court and as celebrated coaches, while also opening the door for contemporary young Black stars such as Serena and Venus Williams.

According to the American Tennis Association, the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States, black people were barred from professional tennis competitions not long after the first lawn tennis court was built in America in 1876 — a time when the abolition of slavery had only just begun. The U.S. Lawn Tennis Association, then the governing body of the “whites only” section of the sport, is known today as the United States Tennis Association — which has overseen a bevy of major tournaments spanning multiple decades, including the U.S. Open.

“The USLTA color line was finally broken with prodding from within the association by Alice Marble and Edward Niles and from outside by the ATA,” the says the ATA’s website history section notes. Wilmington’s Dr. Hubert Eaton as well as Dr. Walter Johnson and Bertram Baker were among the ATA officials were the key force behind negotiations that in 1950 led to the United States Lawn Tennis Association’s acceptance of Althea.

The ATA and the Black Tennis Hall of Fame has honored  honor individuals who have broken through the barriers of race and class to achieve success in the wonderful sport of tennis.  Both Lenny Simpson and Dr. Hubert Eaton of Wilmington were inducted into the 2014 Black Tennis Hall of Fame.

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 ONE LOVE TENNIS IS 

STARTING NEW FALL SCHEDULE

(BIGGER AND MORE DIVERSIFIED THAN EVER)

ONE LOVE TENNIS is starting its fall schedule reaching over 400 young people per week at more locations than ever including Girls Leadership of Wilmington (GLOW) and the Williston Girls Tennis Team.

Not only is ONE LOVE TENNIS reaching more girls than ever but the organization is becoming more and more diversified.  Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Hispanic, Mulatto, African-American and white students are all represented in the program.