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I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be a summer intern at the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) in Newport, RI. As a member of the women's tennis team at SLU and a longtime tennis fan, this was an amazing experience. The ITHF has a small and tight knit staff that all share a passion for tennis and the ITHF's mission to preserve and promote the history of tennis as well as celebrate the champions of the sport and inspire the growth of tennis across the world. I was one of two advancement interns and a third joined us during our Infosys Hall of Fame Open week. This week was 8 days straight of long 10+ hour days but it was so amazing to see the way the ITHF grounds transform for the tournament and welcome so many visitors to see our beautiful campus (and watch great tennis!).
Prior to our tournament, I began my internship with a project that ended up taking around six weeks to complete. On the grounds, the ITHF has a Legends’ Walk where there are over 600 inscribed bricks donated in memory of loved ones, in celebration of Hall of Famers, and in appreciation of ITHF partnerships. Since these bricks are a fundraising project, the Advancement team is the keeper of the archived orders and they are the ones who accept new orders. However, there had never been any sort of master list in the 20+ years of this endeavor or any map which detailed where all of these bricks were located and by whom they were donated. The other Advancement intern and I mapped these existing bricks in the ground and we created a master list with donor names so that anyone looking for a brick could easily locate it. This took time but the end result is very functional and we distributed a copy of our map and list to the Welcome Center, the Museum, Gift Shop, and the Hall of Fame Tennis Club Pro Shop. In these places, patrons could inquire where their brick was located and an ITHF staff member would consult our map and point the individual in the right direction to see their brick. We completed and distributed these maps before the tournament began and the feedback afterwards was that many bricks were easily found during the busy week!
Summer 2024 marked the last summer of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250 level tournament in Newport. This resulted in record numbers and sellouts almost everyday! As an Advancement intern, my main position during the tournament was as a hostess at a donor hospitality club called the TeamFAME Terrace. TeamFAME is a National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) Chapter based at the ITHF and its purpose is to provide under-resourced middle school students in Newport and surrounding communities with an after-school and summer program. This summer, TeamFAME received a very generous donation in the name of Chris Evert and the TeamFAME Learning Center was renamed as the Chris Evert Learning Center. Patrons of the tournament had the opportunity to come by the TeamFAME Terrace and make their own donation to the organization and as a thank you, enjoy shade and light refreshments during the hot and sunny days of the tournament. My daily tasks as hostess included setting up/breaking down the tables with linens and floral arrangements as well as keeping the water/seltzer/snacks freshly stocked throughout the day. Additionally, I was a spokesperson for TeamFAME and provided guidance to patrons on how to make their donations. We raised over $10,000 for TeamFAME during the tournament week!
Advancement’s busiest time during the summer was Hall of Fame Weekend. This was at the end of our tournament and there were several high profile events such as the Chris Evert Naming Ceremony, Courting Fashion at Rosecliff Mansion, Brooks Brothers Brunch, and the Induction Ceremony/Reception to name a few. Duties I had during these events included signing guests in at our Brooks Brothers Brunch where Andre Agassi, Stan Smith, Martina Navratilova and other past Hall of Famers made remarks in celebration of our Induction Class of 2024. I was also an usher at Hotel Viking in Newport, guiding guests onto the trolleys that would transport them to Rosecliff Mansion for Courting Fashion, a cocktail event to mingle with past and present Hall of Famers with vintage tennis fashion as a backdrop.
After our tournament came to a close, the hectic environment at the ITHF subsided. I was tasked with creating 20+ photo books for our top donors and sponsors with some of the best moments from Hall of Fame Weekend. This included going through our photographers’ portal and pulling specific photos of these individuals and carefully curating a unique book for each person. This was a tedious process but was completed in a couple of weeks between myself and the other Advancement intern before we wrapped up for the summer!
Overall, I had such a great experience at the International Tennis Hall of Fame and cannot wait to make it back there next summer as a spectator of the tournament which will now host professional women’s tennis for the first time in over thirty years!