HighFIVE: Serving Tennis Women

Serving Tennis Women is building a support system for women to improve their mental game, develop friendships and embrace healthy competition

In the fall of 2021, Orit Ostrowiak (pictured right) was volunteering at the registration desk of Tennis Palooza, a North Jeffco Tennis Club non-sanctioned tournament, when she met Christy Loehr (left), one of the participants. Christy, a Golden native, was a relatively new 2.5 player who expressed to Orit how nervous she was to play in her first tournament. Orit understood Christy’s anxious feelings and stepped in to help. 

“I was eager to encourage and guide my newbie buddy throughout the weekend, and it resulted in a successful tournament and more importantly, a connection and a partnership,” says Orit. 

While Christy was new to tennis, Orit first picked up a racquet at age 9 in her native South Africa and is an active 4.5 player. But the differences in level and experiences with tennis were not something that divided Orit and Christy, but rather what led to them creating Serving Tennis Women (STW), “a support system for adult women tennis players to better their mental game, friendships and embrace healthy competition.”

Over meetings at a local coffee shop, Orit and Christy developed a community-based grassroots organization that believes women need support to have long-term success in tennis and that individuals within communities best know how to facilitate this success. 

“We fight the notion of decline and strive to build new narratives on femininity, empowerment, happiness, and aging,” say Orit and Christy. With a mission to empower mental strength and physical health, nurture new players, and facilitate positive competition while also building friendships among women, STW has made a strong impact in those areas in just three years.

Within six months of forming, STW hosted their first event which was aimed at breaking down barriers and letting women of all tennis abilities know that they can compete. Hosted at Apex Recreation Center in Arvada, the event featured long time teaching pros Kim Greason and Ginger Phillips, who engaged with the women about keeping tennis fun while also being mentally strong and confident in knowing that they could move beyond drills sessions and compete in leagues and tournaments, if they chose to. 

Other spotlight STW events have included a seminar featuring world-renowned sports psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr (Christy’s father-in-law) who spoke to more than 300 attendees about toughness and positivity as well as the recent Queen of the Court event where more than 70 female 2.5-3.5 players came together to form teams, captained by a 4.0+ player, and play in friendly round-robin competition. In addition, STW regularly organizes yoga sessions, tennis socials, coffee meetups for USTA League team captains, and an annual holiday tea.

And while the organization has had early success and is definitely growing, including the addition of three more “staff”, it has not been without its challenges. Orit and Christy say “Trying to balance family, full time work (Orit has her own professional coaching business and Christy is an elementary school art teacher), and our own personal interests was challenging when starting our first non-profit. Also getting funding, marketing, and building support and traction in the community are constant hurdles.”

STW has been fortunate to receive funding from USTA Colorado as well as partnerships with Apex Tennis Center, Denver Tennis Park, Mad Greens and other community businesses to help support their events. They were also able to get approved as an official organization on the Colorado Gives donation platform so that it’s easy to make a direct donation online.

Moving forward, STW is looking forward to expanding their reach beyond the North Metro Denver area and bringing more women into tennis through their socials and events, particularly with their upcoming “Bring a Newbie to Tennis” event at Denver Tennis Park on February 8, 2025.

Orit and Christy say “STW is the only non-profit organization that focuses primarily on women tennis players of all levels and stages, celebrating mental, physical and emotional health. We are excited for the future and to see the continued growth in women tennis players and the friendships and support that come with that.”

To learn more about Serving Tennis Women, how you can get involved and their upcoming events, visit them online or via social media (Facebook / Instagram).

MidFirst Bank is one of the largest privately owned banks and this combination of size and private ownership provides our customers with a special brand of banking. We are a strong supporter of the communities we serve, investing time and money in important educational, charitable and civic organizations. Our volunteerism is powered by our employees from all of the communities in which we live and share with our customers. MidFirst Bank is a proud partner of USTA Colorado.