Junior Development PathWAY
The highway to college is a journey that requires discipline, commitment, and an ability to navigate the path; we are here to help families navigate whichever path they choose.
We analyzed the time spent on the court by our youth who have successfully attained a college scholarship to determine the minimum weekly requirement to continue on the highway to college.
The table below represents a minimum weekly tennis and conditioning requirement for parents and children to consider as they determine whether to pursue a college tennis scholarship. Depending on the tennis reputation of the institution a parent/child aspires to attend, we would recommend adopting the Age 14-18 session cadence as early as possible.
OUR SUCCESSES
Since 2008, XSTEF has sent 47 students to college on tennis scholarships, with many more in our current pipeline of youth. The combined value of the scholarships our students have received is $9M. This was achieved without a permanent home for our students and with a highly limited operating budget.
Many of our students return to XSTEF to volunteer, sharing their experiences with younger students aspiring to emulate their success. In addition, a number of XSTEF students have returned to XSTEF as coaches and are now taking a leadership role in developing the next generation of XSTEF juniors.
In 2018, XSTEF moved into its first permanent home at 5336 S State St, a $16M facility, the third largest indoor and outdoor facility in the United States, and the first tennis facility of its kind on the south side of Chicago. The XSTEF facility has 12 consecutive indoor courts, the longest stretch of courts in the world, along with 15 outdoor courts, including 4 clay courts. The facility is equipped with a 10,000 sq ft fitness center, designed to optimize the sports performance of our youth, while also possessing three academic classrooms to enable our youth to thrive academically in addition to their on-court success.
With this permanent residence and increased capacity, we strive to deliver the highest quality programming to youth in our local community, while bringing together adults and children from all Chicago neighborhoods under one roof. The facility allows us to control our own destiny and build out our programming knowing our future is secure.
