First Niagara Free Lesson

In its seventh year, more than 500 New Haven school children attend the First Niagara Free Tennis Lesson, a large-scale free tennis lesson designed to introduce children to the sport of tennis.  Over the past five years, the 90-minute introductory tennis lesson has been led by Taylor Dent, John Isner, Thomas Blake, Patrick McEnroe, Mashona Washington, Zina Garrison and Alexandra Stevenson along with USTA New England and local teaching pros.  At the end of the Free Lesson, all New Haven school children are encouraged to sign up for affordable tennis lessons offered through the New Haven Parks and Rec. 

In its eighth year, New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara and the New Haven Park & Rec partnered to conduct a tennis clinic in July.  In 2009, WTA World Tour pro Melanie Oudin, USTA New England and local teaching pros conducted a 60-minute introductory clinic for kids from the New Haven Parks and Rec Summer Camp utilizing the USTA's QuickStart tennis program.  After the clinic, the kids had the chance to play against Donald Young in a Wii tennis competition.  At the end of the clinic, all New Haven campers are encouraged to sign up for affordable tennis lessons offered through the New Haven Parks and Rec.

In its tenth year, the First Niagara Family Classic is a parent/child tournament designed to encourage families to play tennis together.  It is a year-round, multi-stage tournament, which begins in the fall and culminates during the New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara tournament.  Participants first compete in parent/child and husband/wife divisions that take place at local tennis clubs and park & recreation departments throughout New England & New York.  In 2009, over 5,000 participants competed in over 90 local events at tennis facilities throughout five states in order to reach the finals.
 

In its seventh year, the New Haven Open enjoys working with several Latino youth organizations throughout New Haven.  To date, more than 1,500 children have participated in Latino Day at the New Haven Open where children are invited to enjoy a private Q&A session with an ATP Tour or Sony Ericsson WTA Tour pro as well as the afternoon's matches.  In 2009, the Q&A was led by ATP World Tour pro Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and WTA pro Nuria Llagostera Vives

In its eleventh year, the New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara enjoys a year round relationship with the Connecticut Girl Scouts encouraging the girls to play tennis and earn a special New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara patch by completing a series of tennis related activities.  To date, more than 2,000 girls have earned the tennis patch.  During the New Haven Open, all Girl Scouts along with their families are invited to enjoy a private Q&A session with a WTA Tour pro.   In 2009,WTA Tour pro Svetlana Kuznetsova conducted a private Q&A session for over 500 Girl Scouts from local Connecticut councils.

The Perfect Match program is designed to introduce & expose kids to the game of tennis by matching tournament sponsors to host local not-for profit youth organizations to a session of tennis at the New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara.