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Kamau Murray, founder of the XS Tennis and Education Foundation. (WTTW News)
Tennis fans have the opportunity to meet top professionals this week at Chicago Tennis Festival, which kicked off on Monday.
We meet with the tournament promoter to learn more about his mission to empower children to thrive.
TRANSCRIPTION
Kamau Murray, founder of the XS Tennis and Education Foundation: A lot of touring pros are now talking about how they were the ball kids for Roger Federer and it made them believe they could do it and it doesn’t sound that hard. So I think that kind of “see it’s like that”.
Joanna Hernandez: On the court, Kamau Murray is known as a father of tennis for children who are part of the XS Tennis and Education Foundation program.
Murray: Tennis daddy to many. My phone explodes at all hours of the night. It is a rewarding experience to have been able to reach so many people in a very deep and lasting way.
Hernandez: Murray coached Sloane Stephens to the 2017 US Open Championship.
Adesuwa Osabuohien, 26, has been under Murray’s wing since the age of 12.
Osabuohien: My mother found it. I had – I don’t know if you know that reference – but I had a chicken wing forehand and Kamau fixed it for me and he put me in the top 10 in the country and I got a full scholarship and finished my Northern Illinois degree in health sciences.
Hernandez: Osabuohien is now a coach at XS Tennis, a huge indoor and outdoor facility in the Washington Park community on the south side.
Osabuohien: I wouldn’t be where I am right now if no one else was doing me a favor. It’s at my house. I feel like I need to be a part of it, and I love it – I still love it.
Tennis coach Adesuwa Osabuohien. (WTTW News)
Hernandez: Murray took his years of experience as a professional trainer and used it to open XS Tennis, a program aimed at giving city children access to the sport.
Murray: If you talk to the best players in the game, their stories are all the same: I grew up in front of a tennis club. And I think I wanted to give black and brown kids the same opportunity to say: I grew up in front of a tennis court, I fell on it, I fell in love, I got good and I got it. made a career.
Hernandez: Provide unique opportunities for children to meet champions like Venus Williams for a clinic.
Murray says he wants the center to be a safe haven for the community, a place where students can grow and thrive not only on the ground, but academically as well.
Murray: Having a whole college or sports department watching you, watching your GPA, free tutoring, I think it’s an experience that will get more black and brown kids not only to go to college but also to finish college.
Hernandez: Murray continues to break down barriers, becoming the first African-American to promote a professional tennis tournament in Chicago. Give young people the chance to participate as kids of the ball and watch professional players up close and personal.
Murray: I think it’s a good opportunity for them to see that, oh it looks harder on TV than it actually is, if I go into the process, stay disciplined and that I continue.
The Chicago Tennis Festival. (WTTW News)
Hernandez: The Chicago Tennis Festival consists of three tournaments of the Women’s Tennis Association. Profits from the event will be donated to the XS Tennis and Education Foundation.
Osabuohien: Although tennis is an expensive sport, we have scholarship programs for children who cannot afford it. Our doors are open to everyone.
Hernandez: A door that Osabuohien took advantage of and which she believes set her on the path to success, in the hopes of encouraging generations of children to dream big.
Osabuohien: For them, seeing that professional tennis is something that goes beyond the minds of children. Maybe I can do it… maybe.
The Chicago Tennis Festival continues until Sunday October 3.
Note: This story will be updated with a video.
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