Charlie Pasarell, NJTL co-founder, honored with 2024 NJTL Founders' Service Award

More than 50 years ago, Charlie Pasarell teamed with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan Snyder to launch the National Junior Tennis and Learning Network to bring tennis to under-resourced kids. Now, he's been honored with the NJTL Founders' Award for his service to the sport.

Guided by the principles of making tennis more accessible and improving young lives through the lessons that tennis can teach, the NJTL network today includes over 250 chapters and provides free or low-cost tennis and academic programming to more than 150,000 under-resourced youth nationwide as the flagship program supported by the USTA Foundation.

In his playing career, Pasarell was a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist who won 23 career singles titles and 30 career doubles titles. He transcended the amateur and Open Eras and went on to have a long administrative career in the sport. In addition to his work in NJTL, the native of San Juan, Puerto Rico and a longtime resident of California revived the Indian Wells tournament in 1981, saving it from relocation. He was its tournament director from 1981-2009, continued his association with the event until 2012, and transformed the tournament into the largest combined men's and women's tour-level event.

Pasarell, together with Donald Dell, Jack Kramer and Cliff Drysdale, also formed the Association of Tennis Professionals, what's known today as the ATP Tour, in 1972. In 2013, Pasarell was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.