As the U.S. Open winds down in Queens, New York, the dearth of color on the courts hasn’t gone unnoticed by watchers of the sport. Of the most recognizable African American faces, there’s James Blake and sister powerhouses, Venus and Serena Williams.
The Williams sisters brought tennis to a new audience when they emerged onto the scene in the 1990s and when they won the women’s doubles title in 1997 at the U.S Open. Twelve years later, the face of high-ranking female players hasn’t diversified much.
But the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which runs the U.S. Open and other tournaments throughout the U.S., hasn’t had its head in the sand over the last decade and wants to actively work on changing that.
To spur its efforts, the USTA hired Kevin Clayton, 50, as chief diversity officer in January 2009. With a background that includes a 10-year tenure at Proctor and Gamble, where he worked on the corporation’s diversity efforts, Clayton came to the realization that “if you create an inclusive environment, allow people to succeed, and enjoy the things that they enjoy doing that it can help the bottom line.â€
Clayton spoke with BlackEnterprise.com about his goals for the USTA, community outreach, and why this is his best job ever.
BlackEnterprise.com: What drew you to the USTA?
Kevin Clayton: After I left Russell Corp., I went to the American Cancer Society (ACS) for a year and got my feet wet with how to leverage diversity with a nonprofit environment, which actually prepared me for this organization because it is the same set up. The transition back to sports is one of the reasons I left ACS, and this, to me, is the best job I’ve ever had for these reasons: One, my background is sports and it connects me with the passion I have personally. Secondly, the organization is absolutely supportive of integrating diversity into all components of what we do. And to have an opportunity to impact the face of tennis is personally and professionally a wonderful responsibility that I really feel privileged to have that opportunity.
What are some of the efforts the USTA is doing to diversify the tennis, especially among the higher-ranked players?
We have specific funding programs out of my department called multicultural player grants. We understand that the scale is not balanced right now, so what we’re doing is providing funding to try and offset that disparity. We want to see continuous improvement; as long as the player continues to improve, there is funding.
There’s also the high-performance player development department. When a player reaches a certain level that we call our elite player status then that department takes over and it begins to fund them at a higher lever and that funding is the same in which we would fund our majority players as well.
How do you get tennis into communities where it isn’t the norm?
We have community partnerships and strategic partnerships in place so that we can connect with groups in those communities. There are leadership groups such as the 100 Black Men of America in which we have a national partnership. It isn’t just for kids but also for vendors, suppliers, and potential sponsors. We also have these kinds of relationships with the Hispanic community, Asian community, and Native American community. Across all groups of color we have tried to identify one or two or three leadership organizations that we can go to to establish partnerships.
If we can get to a community early enough, and the leaders of those communities are also pushing tennis as a cool sport to do then we can also begin to address that and get the kids at a younger age as well.
Tennis training can be expensive. How do you make it more accessible to people who can’t afford it?
We provide coaching, clinics, camps, and we have regional training centers across the country. How do we make sure that all kids have access to a training center and not just those in the suburban area where the training center is located? It is making sure that we provide those particular activities and support that cost money that in some cases make it prohibitive to participate in.
If a parent thinks she has a young Venus Williams or James Blake at home, how can they find out what resources are available?
First thing is to contact the local USTA office. From that point they would make the connection and develop the relationship and get the child out to some of the youth programs and camps; and also give direction on where s/he can play and on what funding and grants are available. Check out the Website too.