NJTL Spotlight: Inform Yourself Youth Tennis

Serving the kids of Southfield, Mich. has been Pat Wiley’s calling for as long as she can remember. When she formed her company, Inform Yourself Inc. Youth Development Company, she only had the growth of the young people in her community on her mind.

As she navigated the needs of the youth over the years, though, it became clear to Wiley that something was missing from her programming. While the kids were receiving top-notch guidance in their academics, Wiley realized that the physical activities were lacking. Wiley began to think what she could add to her curriculum that would embody everything she had been teaching. Tennis became that natural fit.

“I really love tennis, but I had thought no more about it until thinking about my grandson and thinking what kind of sport I could add to my program that would help to build the confidence of young people, and tennis helped me do that,” said Wiley.

Wiley was soon in contact with the USTA/Midwest Section and created her own National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) chapter in Southfield. Inform Yourself Youth Tennis fit seamlessly with Wiley’s mission to build up the  confidence of her kids. It also helped her introduce a sport to many children who never would have dreamed of picking up a racquet before.

“Having that mission of supporting all youth and supporting the adults who support youth in getting tennis out there was huge,” said Wiley. “The tennis message in my area was not even thought about.”

For many of Wiley’s kids, this was their first time even touching a tennis racquet. So, the goal became encouraging the young players to believe that they were able to rally, keep score and just have fun with this lifelong sport. Wiley also says the equipment provided by the USTA was a major help in reaching more players.

“It was just so exciting to be able to work with an organization that lived their mission, and that’s exactly what they [USTA] did,” said Wiley. “They gave me the tools to feel successful.”

Not only was Wiley becoming more and more confident in creating opportunities in tennis for her students, she was also learning how to bring tennis to other areas in unorthodox ways. Because of this, Wiley says that tennis has become a huge success with her kids.

While that excitement has been growing now for the last seven years, Inform Yourself Youth Tennis hit a standstill, as with most other tennis organizations, during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. But that did not stop Wiley and her determined nature to bring joy to her kids.

Inform Yourself Youth Tennis became one of six NJTL chapters that received tablets from the USTA to keep players engaged. Wiley has been hard at work recently with her students to keep their minds and bodies strong. One such exercise is the Read Write Ride program, encouraging kids to keep journals about their experiences while also getting up to move.

The tablets have also provided a much-needed break for Wiley’s kids to laugh with each other and stay connected. While they may be away from each other for now, Wiley knows that the strong foundation her NJTL chapter has built will always remain.

“The thing I love about the USTA is they live their mission in supporting the people who are on the front lines, and I would love to let people know that if you love kids, and you want to see them have fun, join the USTA.”