Our Organization – Jane Finch Tennis

Home•Our Organization

OUR STORY

2006

Tennis Canada launches a community initiative to provide opportunities and access to tennis for residents of Jane/Finch. A new tennis program is established with the support of Canadian Tire Jumpstart.

2009

To ensure local sustainability, the initiative is incorporated as a not-for-profit entity as the Jane/Finch Community Tennis Association (JFCTA).

2011

With a desire to contribute to the local community needs, the After School Program is launched with the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation in order to engage youth with academic support and additional tennis opportunities.

2014

With the support of the Lambton Foundation, we provided youth with a unique opportunity to plan, develop and execute our March Break Tennis Camp to promote leadership and project management skills.

2015

With a desire to increase female participation and ‘active for life’, we launched our all girls program which included a female leadership development structure.

2017

To meet our community’s needs for employment and local capacity, we introduced our Instructors Certification Program to develop youth within our volunteer stream to become professionally certified tennis instructors. The majority of our certified youth are employed by JFCTA, while others have become employed by other organizations!

2019

With the support of Canadian Heritage, we embarked on a Capacity Building project to strengthen governance procedures and ensure our work was grounded in anti-racism, anti-oppression and trauma-informed policies.

2020

With the support of the Doncaster Foundation, we plan to pilot an educational Summer Camp that focuses on physical activity and STEM Learning.

FUTURE

Looking ahead, we are developing measurement and evaluation tools to better understand the impact we are having and ensure we continue to support our community in new ways that meet their needs.

JFCTA services the diverse community of Jane/Finch in Toronto that consists of three Neighborhood Improvement Areas as identified by the City of Toronto. The vast majority of our participants are newcomers, low-income families and are from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. Our core programming and services are designed for children and youth ages 4-24. We also offer programs for adults, especially for parents whose children are enrolled in JFCTA programs. We have increased our services for older youth and young adults (ages 18-24) in assisting them with employment opportunities and professional development. The volunteers that we recruit, train and mentor are comprised largely by the older youths within our programs. They reflect the population groups that we service and provide key insights to staff and our decision-making processes. Through our sportive and educational platforms, we will continue to meet the needs of our community.