Alywn Mushonga Excited to Grow Tennis in New TSR Role

“When I was back home in Zimbabwe, I would travel a lot and go to certain countries playing all those Under-18 junior tournaments,” Mushonga said. “I met a lot of different people — people who are my friends now for a long time. You meet a lot of lifelong friends of tennis. It was just an opportunity to get me out of trouble. It really helped me to be out there. I’m more of a quiet person. Tennis made me into being more confident. That’s why I kept on playing tennis.”

Mushonga received scholarship offers from some NCAA Division-I and Division-II schools in the U.S. He elected to attend Eastern Florida State College for two years on scholarship. One of the coaches there had been in communication with Mushonga since he was 16 and knew Mantas Tennis Academy well.

Mushonga proceeded to play two years of tennis and complete his degree at McKendree University. He spent two years in Boston as head tennis professional at Weston Golf Club before landing with USTA and moving to St. Louis. He believes the position is a great match for his skillset.

“I’ve always had a passion of introducing tennis to certain areas that don’t have tennis,” Mushonga said. “It has to do with my background. That’s why I chose a job like this. I hope I provide tennis to areas that don’t have enough tennis.”

Mushonga has already traveled quite a bit since starting with USTA. He visited Perryville, Mo. alongside John Terpkosh, parks & recreation program manager for USTA Missouri Valley. The section worked with Perryville’s parks & rec department to set up a new program called Tennis in the Parks, which will begin this summer. To read more about this initiative, click here.

“I’m looking at communities that don’t have tennis, or they have tennis but they don’t have the proper equipment,” Mushonga said. “My job is to be that bridge to help them. Either get a tennis coach or get some equipment through USTA. I’m going to low-income areas or areas that don’t have enough tennis to help them.”

The Edwardsville Futures event has been a focus area for Mushonga as well. He has assisted in getting the high-level tournament some sponsorships. Mushonga is looking forward to developing and strengthening school partnerships, helping tennis providers and generally growing the sport in his TSR role. He can be reached at mushonga@movalley.usta.com

“Having providers come to me if they need any help in any way in terms of grants,” Mushonga said. “Even if they see a school that needs tennis or a park that needs tennis. Contact me to help those places. That’s my job to be able to help them. We have a lot of grants with USTA. It’s a big pleasure to be working with USTA.”