USTA, AEG, Tiger Woods Unite To Help Build Kimmelman Athletic-Academic Campus
NYSJ Sports-Entertainment Business News Service
February 13, 2019: The U.S. Tennis Assn., global sports and entertainment firm AEG and Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation have joined with the Kimmelman Family Foundation to bring to reality the Carol Kimmelman Athletic and Academic Campus, being envisioned as "one of the largest and most extraordinary community-serving sports and education centers in America.”
The Kimmelman Campus — to be located in Carson , Calif. — is expected to span more than 80 acres and feature up to 52 tennis courts, soccer and multi-purpose fields, and a state-of-the-art academic center with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focus.
The project is named for Carol Kimmelman, a California native who was a member of the 1983 national champion USC women’s tennis team and former South L.A. elementary school teacher.
According to her family, Carol, who passed away from cancer in 2017, “believed fervently in the power of tennis and other sports to transform the lives of young people from all backgrounds.”
The Kimmelman Campus proposal is currently undergoing a public review process led by Los Angeles County, which owns the property where the new development is envisioned.
According to the Kimmelman Family Foundation, the County Board of Supervisors is still completing an environmental review of the site, and is expected to consider a long-term lease for the project in late summer.
If approved by the County, a groundbreaking is anticipated in early 2020.
Among the elements being planned for the Kimmelman Campus, the USTA Foundation would establish the West Coast hub of the National Junior Tennis & Learning program, offering tennis programs, youth services and college scholarships to more than 200,000 underserved youth around the country each year.
The USTA Southern California Tennis Assn. would move its headquarters to the Campus.
In addition, the USTA’s Player Development division, which works to develop world-class American players, expects to make the campus its West Coast center of operations.
The TGR Foundation — founded by Woods and his father, Earl Woods — would oversee a 25,000 square foot learning center, to be equipped with high-tech labs, classrooms and interactive stations that encourage innovative and hands-on STEM learning.
The proposed project also includes plans to include other sports and recreation facilities, including soccer fields; multi-purpose fields that can accommodate rugby and other sports; basketball courts; a sprint track; and training turf to promote active and healthy lifestyles for the entire community.
Programs would be made available at little or no cost to underserved local youth and families.
“My dad (who passed away in 2006) helped me launch TGR Foundation over 20 years ago, inspired by our family motto of ‘share and care,’” Woods said via the Kimmelman Family Foundation, which is overseen by Carol Kimmelman’s husband, Doug Kimmelman, president of the Kimmelman Family Foundation, and their four children.
“TGR Foundation is excited to be part of the Carol Kimmelman Athletic and Academic Campus, where we can continue to spread our mission of empowering students to pursue their passions through education,” said Woods.
“This is the most significant undertaking by the USTA Foundation on the West Coast supporting our mission of combining tennis and education together to change lives,” Chris Evert, the tennis legend who was recently appointed chair of the USTA Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“By making high-quality tennis and educational opportunities available to all local children, regardless of income, this campus will provide a transformative experience for thousands of young people that inspires them to succeed both on and off the court.”
The Kimmelman Family Foundation, along with the USTA Foundation, USTA, SCTA, and representatives of TGR said they already have met with school district leaders, local community-based non-profit organizations, law enforcement officials, and business groups to collaborate on programs and opportunities at the Kimmelman Campus.
RENDITIONS COURTESY KIMMELMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
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