Ann Taylor

Girls Rule the Court (GRTC), a program developed by the USTA Mid-Atlantic Foundation, is one of two recipients of the 2023 NWTO Community Grant. They will receive $2,500 to support their free program created to close the gap on physical and wellness opportunities for young girls aged 7-13. 

Since its start in May 2022, Girls Rule the Court has been expanding its program beyond its start in Baltimore, Maryland to include several communities in Virginia. Specifically, this grant will support this expansion and provide GRTC to the Sterling community of Loudoun Valley Virginia and will complement the programs and services provided by the Community School Initiative (CSI), schools with the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). 

Girls Rule the Court is a completely free program for the participants and offered as an after-school program. All the tennis equipment is provided to the girls along with a workbook designed to encourage various themes (listening, teamwork, healthy choices, identity, self-love, responsibility, goal setting, and empathy). In addition to supporting the girls, the program provides meaningful opportunities for adult women to give back to the sport they love by becoming coaches and volunteer mentors to the participants. To measure the outcomes of the program, Hello Insight, a Youth Development Impact Learning System of participation surveys, is utilized to measure and ensure the achievements in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) that participants make throughout their program.  

Griselda Rufino, Community School Family Liaison of the Sterling Elementary School wrote, “I have witnessed our students come together during class creating their own little community where they get to know and help each other. They are also starting to support each other outside the school by practicing and exercising together.”

The funds provided by the NWTO Community Grant will be used to pay for one head coach and one assistant coach for the program as well as provide funding for the Hello Insights survey tool. In addition, the participants will each receive their own tennis racquet.