Youth Tennis Provider of the Month: Stash Lorenzi

This year, USTA Missouri Valley is shining a spotlight on impactful members of the tennis community as they recognize a Youth Tennis Provider of the Month. 

The October recipient of this award is Stash Lorenzi, Owner and Founder of 40 Love Tennis and Assistant Tennis Coach at Blue Valley High School.

A Kansas City native, Lorenzi has been on the tennis courts since she was five-years-old. Her family were founding members of the Overland Park Racquet Club in 1978, and she began her tennis training with area legend Bill Guilfoil. 

“Tennis is a sport that everyone did in my family and I continued it on as the youngest kid,” Lorenzi said.

She founded 40 Love Tennis in May of 2017 and has grown her business through community outreach. She now has around 50 private clients that she teaches at public parks in the Kansas City area. Because of the socially-distanced nature of tennis, Lorenzi has been able to continue developing 40 Love through the ongoing pandemic, focusing on individual and small-group lessons.

“It feels like I’m a community salesperson for tennis,” she said. “It’s just a part of my job.”

Lorenzi finds joy in educating the next generation of tennis players, and has utilized the USTA’s Net Generation program to spread the reach of the game. Last year, she spent time traveling to schools around Kansas City, teaching tennis during P.E. classes.

“Growing the game and getting rackets into kids’ hands is super important,” she said. “Net Gen has put the resources into our hands.”

Extending the reach of tennis is one of Lorenzi’s main goals. Her belief is that there is a spot for everybody to learn the game.

“It doesn’t take much: a racket, a ball and a public court,” she said. “There’s so many ways to be involved in tennis, whether socially, just hitting around with a friend or even competitively. I love that there are opportunities at every level.”

As Lorenzi watches her students learn and grow, she’s reminded why she loves tennis so much. One of her students at Blue Valley recently signed to continue playing tennis at the collegiate level, which “filled [her] with joy.”