Pride Month: Northern California

Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. At USTA NorCal, we are proud to recognize our LBGT community members, coaches, players, parents, and/or volunteers who bring tremendous value, insight, and richness to out sport and share the great impact they have on tennis in Northern California.

Martha Ehrenfeld | Nathan Mertz | Vu Tran

Martha Ehrenfeld Making an Impact on D&I and Tennis in NorCal

Martha Ehrenfeld may have moved to San Francisco in 2002 but she didn’t waste much time before starting to make a difference in the NorCal tennis community.

Having played USTA Leagues in Massachusetts where she moved from, Ehrenfeld made the walk to Golden Gate Park from her apartment in the Panhandle where she stumbled upon a Gay and Lesbian Tennis Federation event. She joined GLTF, then a GLTF Leagues team, and even the GLTF Board of Directors.

Shortly after, she played on a GLTF mixed team where she met Fred Allemann, who worked for USTA NorCal at the time. He invited her to apply for the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, setting off many years of volunteering with USTA NorCal.

Today, Ehrenfeld is the Co-Chair of Tennis Coalition SF, the organization largely responsible for renovating the GGP courts she walked to that day in 2002. Not to mention, she's also on the USTA NorCal Board of Directors.

Tennis was one way she’s been able to find community, an opportunity she wants everyone to have.

“I want to make sure that many generations of players have the opportunity to try tennis and perhaps for some of them, it will be a lifelong sport that brings both lifelong healthy activity and community,” Ehrenfeld said. “I love the way tennis can bridge age, economic status and a myriad of other differences. When you have that great doubles point where your partner sets you up, you feel so in tune with each other--that is a magic moment. Tennis has brought me so much to my life and I want others to have the same opportunities as me.”

Ehrenfeld has been volunteering long enough to see a lot of change come when it comes to diversity, pointing to USTA NorCal working with GLTF to rework their transgender policy for Leagues.

“We have come a long way together, making the world of tennis more accepting, representing all the diverse players of the sport,” she added. “I am proud to know that USTA NorCal has often paved the way for more inclusive policies and thereby welcoming more people to the sport that I love!”

Nathan Mertz Promoting Tennis in the LGBTQ Community

Nathan Mertz is on a mission.

He has performance goals and wants to continue making it to the NTRP Nationals. But most importantly, Mertz wants to show others in the LGBTQ community that anyone can play tennis.

“Playing has made me feel like I can help promote the sport, but also highlight the LGBTQ community," he said.

Mertz started playing tennis before his freshman year of high school. He knew two other boys who played, so he bought a cheap racquet and joined them. Twenty years later, he still owns that same racquet and he's been playing USTA Leagues and Tournaments for 15 of those years.

“I would say you get variety in both,” he says of Tournaments and Leagues. “In Leagues, you get the team and coordination skills. Whereas in tournaments, it’s only you, you do everything.”

Mertz would certainly know and counts qualifying for the NTRP Nationals among the hardest things he’s ever done, aside from competing in the 2018 Gay Games. He attributes a lot of his success to his coaches, Ken DeHart and Kim Grant.

“If I didn’t have both of them, I wouldn’t have won tournaments and played in as many tournaments as I did. I really thank them for what they’ve done in the past and what they’re doing now,” he said.

It was tournaments that set Mertz on his path, as he was determined to make his name known in that space. He was competing in singles, but a quarterfinals finish at the Mountain View open one year convinced him that doubles would be the best path.

“I think my back thanks me for that,” he laughs.

Tennis isn’t just tournaments and rankings for Mertz though. The sport has been all encompassing in its impact on him.

“I can use it as a way to not think about anything else in my life,” he explained. “I’m out here to have fun. I’m out here to compete, andI’m out here to relieve stress. It’s matured me in the biggest of ways.”

Today, Nathan Mertz is an open book and wants to be a resource for as many people as possible.

“Please, reach out to me,” he said. “I’ll play with anyone. That’s what I want to do for the sport. I want to be that person that says ‘I’m here for you. What do you need? What do you want?’”

Vu Tran and The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Federation (GLTF)

The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Federation (GLTF) started from humble beginnings as a softball club that was the only LGBTQ sports league in the Bay Area.

However, it quickly pivoted when the small group decided to focus on tennis instead. There were just 12 members that first year in 1980, but today the club boasts over 500 and is one of over 0 member clubs of the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance. The organization provides opportunities for all levels of players from novices to those more seasoned, all in an environment that doesn’t discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It's also the largest LGBTQ organization in the country that actively participates in USTA Leagues and is entirely volunteer run.

Vu Tran is one of those members. He played tennis in high school with siblings and friends, but later joined the Federation when a friend recruited him as a last minute substitute for a GLTF USTA Leagues team. He’s been a member ever since.

“For me, the joy in tennis is playing with and against different people!” Tran said.

In addition to fielding Adult Leagues teams, GLTF hosts club-sponsored tennis events, tournaments and opportunities to meet other players that Tran says have been a big impact on his life over the last 20 years.

“GLTF has given me so many opportunities to play tennis and make lifelong friends,” he said. “Tennis, in general, has allowed me to stay motivated to exercise and stay healthy. I’m sure I’d be holed up somewhere watching a boring TV show, had it not been for tennis and the wonderful volunteers in GLTF!”