By Rosie Kean

For The Diamondback

The College Park City Council approved a grant request for the Junior Tennis Champions Center on Tuesday that will provide free tennis lessons to College Park residents.

The tennis center requested the $10,000 grant from the city during an Oct. 4 worksession, and the council voted 5-2, with one abstention, to award the money. The grant, which comes from the city’s general fund, will provide the center enough funds to offer College Park residents six free group tennis lessons.

The grant will help the nationally-recognized center engage with and strengthen the city’s community through teaching tennis, said Ajay Pant, the center’s senior vice president of operations.

“We want to help the city,” Pant said. “A lot of folks in College Park don’t know we’re right there.”

Residents will receive 25 percent off additional lessons and membership dues, and the center will provide free training to elementary school gym teachers and students.

Through the grant, the center will also continue supporting the College Park City-University Partnership Home Ownership Program by offering a free six-month membership to members of the program, which aims to increase the number of university employees living in the city.

In addition, the tennis center will host family tennis festivals six times a year for just College Park residents.

“It’s a great opportunity for the city of College Park,” District 3 Councilman Robert Day said. “The young people of College Park should take advantage of this.”

The tennis center began its community outreach initiative in 2009 to “promote overall health and wellness and to encourage personal growth through sportsmanship, competitive spirit, independence, and teamwork, opening doors to future success,” according to its website.

District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook, who opposed the grant, said “It didn’t seem to be really a grant to me. It seemed like we were buying tennis lessons.”

Mayor Patrick Wojahn said the tennis center had previously asked the city to sponsor an event, but this grant request was a better idea.

The city will pay the grant in two payments of $5,000 on Jan. 1, 2017, and June 1, 2017, the beginning of the city’s fiscal year, Wojahn said.

“The current proposal is more for the city to support JTCC engaging more with the community by providing free lessons and services through our local schools,” Wojahn said. “That would provide a more direct benefit to College Park residents.”