STORY
THE STORY
Reconnecting with the true meaning of service.
Tennis Central Corp and the Anguilla Tennis Academy have partnered up to empower young tennis players to understand the true meaning of service. This partnership started from a life altering experience a Tennis Central Corp Student had when vacationing on the island. While teaching young Anguillans two years ago, Natalie asked how she could help. Mitchelle Lake saw a spark in her eyes and elevated her to become an ATA Ambassador. Once back to Washington DC, she contacted Yann Auzoux, Tennis Central Corp CEO and asked him for guidance on how she could best help fundraise for her new project. While brainstorming, it became apparent that the best way to create a sustainable engine that could assist the ATA for many years to come was to do something special that would be a win-win for everyone. Yann Auzoux decided to create a service trip for young American players that could give them the best of both worlds. Enjoying the Island’s beauty and spoils while giving back to the community in a sustainable meaningful way.
The project was scheduled to begin in 2020 but the Covid Pandemic stopped it in its track. In 2021, for the inaugural SUMMER SERVICE TRIP, Tennis Central and the ATA crafted an experience like no other with an amazing group of 10 junior players and 3 coaches that had all signed on to Serve. On the coaching side, Tennis Central Corp brought three of its most senior coaches. Yann Auzoux, Tennis Central Corp CEO is a renowned mentor coach celebrity that had been voted in the Top 50 best tennis coaches worldwide for 6 years straight by the Tennis Congress and is one of the most sought-after tennis influencers in the US. Alexis Baguelin, former Team Captain of the National French Junior Team, and executive director at Tennis Central Corp has overseen a 400% annual growth at the Tennis Central Academy for 4 years. Michael Augsberger, Executive Editor for the Tennis Central Corp magazine and Director of Competition was also part of the trip. Olivia Ricchi, Tennis Central COO also signed on to join the trip to oversee the development of a true sustainable impact on the lives of both the International and local campers. The mission for this inaugural event was three-folds: Respect, Reflect, and Serve.
1
RESPECT is the first pilar of this mission because all participants must understand the situation, their role, leave judgment at the door, and commit to making a difference.
2
REFLECT because introspection is a necessary exercise to activate creativity and a true sense of purpose.
3
SERVE because legacy is never about one person but the impact they have on the world after they leave.
Today
The experience on the island was so powerful that all 12 campers took it upon themselves to let the world know about the amazing transformation they experienced. While serving others, every camper activated a guiding light inside of them that burns bright to this day. They all understand that our role on earth is to bring value to others. Your true legacy on earth is how you will be remembered. During their stay, campers noticed multiple projects that would benefit the island of Anguilla, the people, and the ATA. Today, we are opening the service trip to campers with an interest in the following fields:
TODAY
Anguilla Tennis Academy Youth Camps
Ecological Awareness & Protection
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Video Production
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Social Media and Awareness
Reporter & Journalism
Photography
Landscaping
Renovations
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Fundraising
Island
THE ISLAND
Anguilla is a unique destination that combines some of the most luxurious resorts in the world with some of the most impoverished people on earth. This situation provides an opportunity to enjoy the islands’ best prestigious spoils while giving back to a community in dire need. The Island is full of exceptional life altering excursions that are certain to leave their mark in our campers’ soul. With direct flights from Miami to Anguilla and DC to St Marteen, the island access is as convenient as it gets.
People
THE PEOPLE
The Anguillans are some of the friendliest people on earth. Their warmth, kindness, and openness is palpable and they are always eager and proud to show you their world. They are in need, but one would never know it as their culture is rich, proud, and humble. Our goal is to help the Anguillan community with our service trip while injecting some cash flow in their local economy.
Struggles
THE STRUGGLES
Anguilla is a dream destination in the British Caribbean. Since 2017, it has suffered some of the destructive disasters a country, a people, and an economy can withstand. Hurricane Irma in 2017 nearly wipe out the entire island leaving devastation, death, and destitution. It took the island 7 months to regain power and water. Fast forward to 2019, and the Covid Pandemic all but shut out its economy maim source of revenue as Tourism closed entirely. The recent government policies have put additional stress on this small population of 5000 active workers. Our service trip is designed to alleviate their pain while providing financial sustainability for the people we touch.
Conscious Tourism
We need to make a difference in the communities that generously hosts us on their land. Most tourist destination are corporate centric. Many of the resorts operate like self-contained units with very little local flavor. They export their staff and operation team from overseas and give nothing back to the community they lease the land from. Most contracts are negotiated with outrageous benefits including Tax Free perks, no minimum wage requirements, no local hiring clause, and no corporate investments in schools or other local community projects. In other words, it is pure profit on steroid with one Motto: Modern Pillage. What we offer here is the complete opposite. Our service trip is designed to benefit the locals primarily. We hire locals for all our needs: Private chefs, butlers, drivers, guides, excursions, outings, shopping, and more. By doing this, we inject some well needed energy into the local economy that finally benefit from our enjoyment of their land. Our Job is to bring them HOSTESS GIFTS every time we come to their house.
Socially Conscious Tourism
The Anguilla Tennis Academy has been doing miracles for 26 years by offering tennis to needy kids on the island. Their efforts have generated an excess of $1,000,000 in US scholarships for local talents. Additionally, they have provided nearly free summer camps for 26 years to thousands of kids who could not afford it otherwise. From its humble beginning on dilapidated courts with just a few racquets to share with large groups of kids, Mitchelle Lake found the strength to raise enough funds to build a world class dream destination for Anguillan budding tennis talents and its supporters. Today, this venue sits proudly as a beacon of hope for the entire Anguillan population and all tennis enthusiasts from around the globe. One Man’s Dream has now become a Share Vision.