Randall’s Island lies in the East River between Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. In addition to SPORTIME Randall’s Island, the Island has more than sixty athletic fields and 330 acres of parkland.
Patrick McEnroe is a former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster for ESPN. He is also the co-director of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, which is named for his brother. He says the Academy improves accessibility in a sport that can feel resource exclusive.
“One of the knocks on tennis is that it’s not that accessible. It’s hard to find courts, you got to find someone to play with, you got to get balls, you got to have a racket, there’s a lot of things you need in order to progress. I mean I started hitting against a wall in Queens where we grew up, but a lot of kids don’t even have that opportunity.”
While the John McEnroe Tennis Academy dreams of producing a US Open winning player, they can already celebrate success–hundreds of kids have come through the Academy and received college scholarships to play tennis.
“We’re looking for the next John McEnroe, but we’ll settle for the next Patrick McEnroe, because I was a pretty good professional player. I wasn’t at the level of my brother, who got to #1. So that’s our dream, is to get someone homegrown who can win the U.S. Open, but I was lucky enough to play in the U.S. Open many many times. We would love that to happen as well, but the bigger point is we’re helping kids and changing their lives.”
SPORTIME operates fourteen tennis facilities in the New York Metropolitan area. Their flagship facility on Randall’s Island just got a big upgrade. The expansion reflects their focus on excellence in sport, accessibility, and community impact.
Claude Okin is the President and CEO of SPORTIME. He says this expansion fuels the core of their mission.
“We call Randall's our flagship, and it’s the epicenter of our mission. We are all New Yorkers, we grew up here as New Yorkers scrounging for courts. We are proud to host what we call this tennis paradise right in the heart of New York City, it’s pretty remarkable.”
The facility spans almost 260,000 square feet and now hosts 33 total courts–up from 20 at its inception. This expansion should allow the site to host more players than the thousands it already does.
“We spent 20, and since then we’ve spent another 55, so we’ve invested $75- million dollars in this large, special place, and it’s now owned by the City of New York. In exchange for that, we get to operate it for twenty-five years. The goal is to make some money but also do great things for tennis.”
The Johnny Mac Tennis Project makes sure that kids of all economic backgrounds have access to the game of tennis.
“That’s the not for profit that raises the money to let us not just fill the courts with the richest and most privileged in New York, but to fill the courts with other New York kids like we were who might not have that much money but who want to play tennis and want to use tennis to make their lives better and healthier...and that’s honestly as important to us as anything we do.”
CEO Claude Okin says it’s significant that the McEnroe brothers, two titans of American tennis, give back to New York City.
“To do it with John and Patrick in New York is pretty remarkable. These are two guys who are so important to the sport of tennis. Both in terms of their playing careers and other jobs they’ve had in the industry, and when you turn tennis on television today and watch an important match, who’s talking to you? John and Patrick. And then when those parents and family and kids come to SPORTIME Randall’s Island, who’s there to welcome them? John and Patrick.”
Maybe the next American winner will have cut their teeth on Randall’s Island.
