H.I.T.S. Program Debuts at GGP Tennis Center

The gleaming new exterior of the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Tennis Center at Golden Gate Park is what catches many eyes, but not everyone might know everything that’s happening inside it. 

One of those buildings is the Koret Teaching and Learning Center classroom, which recently welcomed its first middle school students as part of the San Francisco Parks and Recreation department’s Tennis and Learning Center program. 

When it comes to the Tennis and Learning Center program, that duty falls to Channing Hale, the program coordinator for its after school programs. 

The TLC is a program partnered with San Francisco schools to work with lower income families and those in equity zones throughout the city. As the program coordinator, Hale hires and oversees staff that go through trainings to make sure they’re prepared to meet the needs of the students in each of their five sites. 

“It really is a team effort when it comes to recruiting students, due to our parent participation piece we have to make sure families understand that is not just about the student getting homework help,” Hale says. “We ask parents to be just as involved as we are, and we also make sure we build great relationships with teachers and principals from all participating schools.”

Over the summer, they will host a TLC summer camp that will consist of a combination of tennis, learning enrichment and other sports activities. 

The new classroom at Golden Gate Park paid immediate dividends to Hale’s program as the technology it makes available ensured students were able to have access to things like laptops and headphones. 

The TLC has been partnered with USTA NorCal for the entire five year length of the program. 

“USTA means a great deal to us when it comes to the tennis portion of our program, helping with grants for equipment and other tools and academic needs,” Hale said.