To Whom it May Concern,
It is with our unfortunate experiences that we must write this letter.
Many of us are residents of Inglewood specifically, and we have had a very hard time with the 40 Love Foundation managing the park.
We are being kicked off courts when no one is waiting and other courts are open. We are being told we are not welcome to play. And we are being told we cannot go to the city for permits to reserve courts for USTA matches.
Many of us have had kids attend camps and have ourselves attended adult classes to try to support the program, the growth of tennis, and the city—just to have many negative experiences.
We have requested many times to have adult classes on weekends to which they have never been scheduled. We have been on the lookout for adult tournaments at Ed Vincent, still none to date.
CEO barely even shows up to any classes and when she does she’s constantly yelling at kids that they’re not good enough.
I’m not even sure she’s a certified instructor of USPTA.
Not to mention over half of her staff isn’t certified and also don’t really seem to know what they’re doing. It comes off as her just hiring her friends. She does have two coaches that are well experienced so everyone always wants to be on their courts. She did have two other strong coaches whom seem to have disappeared without reason while she keeps her friends.
The state of the courts is also constantly in disarray, net cords coming apart, lights constantly out. I’m certain that funding is provided for upkeep. Not to mention the balls used in classes are constantly old and barely bounce, again, isn’t there funding for this?
I’ve tried knocking on the office door, which is never open or attended to ask questions about programs, about equipment, or sometimes to ask for purchasing a water since no water is available but they are never open.
Speaking of open, over 50% of the days in a month the staff close the courts over 30 minutes early. Even when times are clearly posted on the courts.
Many of us are now having to find other places to play tennis, not even by choice, but we are being forced to due to the employees kicking us out, and kicking out all USTA teams that played there and paid for courts via the city.
She will not allow USTA teams to play there, and we who have kids will also be taking our kids to other programs. Even our kids are scared of the CEO and prefer that she doesn’t show up. It’s quite sad. Plus they heard from some friends who used to attend that the lady has kicked some of their friends out of the program.
If you want further information i highly encourage you to reach out to parents on the roster of the youth classes who stopped attending, previous employees of the program, previous USTA captains who have played out of Ed Vincent before being kicked out, and the local USTA coordinator.
I would also double check your contract with them as i’m sure they are not meeting their requirements. At the very least the CEO is NOT working on growing tennis, but instead keeping who she likes close, and those who praise her involved. She seems to like the social media exposure but is not willing to actually grow tennis. The number one reason she should be out there.
We are sorry to have to write this, but it’s continued to get worse.
Please do something about this, we just want to play tennis and have a great facility that we are not allowed to use. Most of us are minorities who need a safe space, and whose kids need a safe space where tennis is accessible. This cannot continue.
Sincerely,
Inglewood Residents and Tennis Players
