Grow Tennis Supporting Academics

Summary

Ryan Redondo — general manager of Barnes Tennis Center and executive director of Youth Tennis San Diego (501c3 nonprofit, founded 1952 as San Diego Tennis Patrons), former head men’s coach at University of Pacific, son of Skip Redondo (11.5-year San Diego State head coach), and co-founder of RKT3 alongside Erik Kortland and Kong Tian — joins Lisa Stone to detail the multi-layered community tennis infrastructure he has built since arriving at Barnes on May 1, 2020. The episode covers: the Kathy Chabot Ouellette After School Tennis Program (school district and Parks and Rec outreach); the Inspire 360 digital learning lab (Apple computers, digital boards, 3D printer, robotics, SAT prep, digital literacy); the 12-camera livestream system for college recruiting video; the JUMP program offering free entry to junior circuit and level 7 events; the SoCal Pro Circuit at Barnes (wildcard participants advancing to semifinals); and RKT3’s national consulting work with sections and facilities. The underlying philosophy: start with the love of the game, provide sustained presence (not one-day events), and connect every level of the game in a single physical facility.

Guest Background

Ryan Redondo grew up on the campus of San Diego State, where his father Skip Redondo was head coach for 11.5 years. He played his first tournament at age five, lost 0 and 0, and was “hooked by the defeat.” He traveled internationally as a junior, played Futures and Challengers, had a college tennis career, then coached — including as head men’s coach at University of Pacific (where he recruited Lisa Stone’s son Morgan for a visit). He left UOP to return to San Diego and was hired at Barnes Tennis Center and Youth Tennis San Diego on May 1, 2020, during the pandemic shutdown. He used the blank-canvas moment to redesign the facility’s programming from scratch. Barnes has hosted ATP and WTA events; has produced national champions; and through the After School Tennis Program sends coaches to schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District and City Parks and Rec facilities. He co-founded RKT3 with Erik Kortland and attorney Kong Tian to extend what he’s building in San Diego to other facilities and communities nationally.

Key Findings

1. Youth Tennis San Diego: A 1952 Institution at Scale

Youth Tennis San Diego is not a startup — it is the successor to the San Diego Tennis Patrons (founded 1952), one of the oldest continuous grassroots tennis support organizations in the US. A framed photo in the facility shows Michael Chang winning the 12s Nationals and writing a thank-you card to the San Diego Tennis Patrons for funding his travel scholarship. The institution provides the organizing infrastructure — grants, board governance, donor relationships, 501c3 structure — that makes everything else sustainable. Redondo’s role since 2020 has been to modernize programming while leveraging this institutional foundation.

2. The After School Tennis (AST) Program: School District + Parks and Rec Integration

The Kathy Chabot Ouellette After School Tennis Program sends Barnes coaches to blacktops and parks throughout the San Diego Unified School District and City of San Diego Parks and Rec facilities — with Youth Tennis San Diego paying all coaches and equipment costs. The design philosophy: teach the love of the game first. No results, no rankings, no immediate pathway pressure. From there, scholarships to Barnes Tennis Center are available for kids who show talent and interest, creating a funnel from street-level exposure to competitive development. The coaches who run these outreach sessions “don’t do it for a lot of money” — the program relies on mission-aligned coaching staff.

3. The Inspire 360 Digital Learning Lab

During COVID, Barnes identified that over 100,000 children in San Diego lacked digital access or wifi. The Inspire 360 digital learning lab was built in response — funded by San Diego community donors — and contains Apple computers, digital boards, laptops (in process), and a 3D printer. The programming vision: after school, kids do 1 hour of tennis + 30 minutes of homework assistance on the computers; SAT prep for all kids; financial literacy (taxes, real-world skills); robotics summer camp (already running); online coursework support for academy-level and homeschool students; and digital literacy classes for senior citizens when students are in school. A 12-camera livestream system on Barnes courts feeds into the lab for college recruiting video analysis — coaches can sit down with players, review footage, and build recruiting profiles.

4. The JUMP Program: Removing the Tournament Entry Barrier

Youth Tennis San Diego’s JUMP program offers free entry fees for all junior circuit and level 7 events at Barnes. The goal is to get kids from the outreach programs — including first-generation college families — onto a USTA ranking pathway. Redondo frames the logic: once a kid has a USTA ranking and some competitive experience, the conversation about college tennis becomes possible for families who had no frame of reference for it. “Families had never gone to college — and through tennis and through support and scholarships, they’re the first to go to school.”

5. The SoCal Pro Circuit as Community Integration Model

Barnes hosted one of the 12 events in the SCTA SoCal Pro Circuit (six men’s, six women’s events). A Barnes wildcard girl advanced to the semifinals — an outcome that would have been impossible without the event. The Barnes activation for the final-day match: a junior circuit and level 7 event ran simultaneously, bringing hundreds of junior players and families to watch a $15,000-prize professional tennis match for free. The combined event created a fan atmosphere at a professional event that would normally draw no audience. Host family housing eliminated travel costs for players. Ethan Quinn’s host family was courtside for his win. Redondo’s summary: “When we start to connect community with tennis and tournaments, we’re going to succeed. You’re going to get more donors, more investments, more connections.”

6. The Three-Layer Access Stack

Redondo describes the SoCal Pro Circuit’s design — pre-qualifying, qualifying, main draw — as the model for how junior-to-professional transition should be structured. Any junior can sign up for pre-qualifying, try to earn a qualifying berth, then earn a main draw spot. “The younger we can expose them to that level, just the better.” He draws a parallel with Italy’s surge in ATP/WTA performance — attributing it to deliberate early exposure to professional-level tennis environments and standards, not genetics or coaching innovation.

7. RKT3 as a National Consulting Extension

Redondo co-founded RKT3 with Erik Kortland (eight-year USTA national coach) and Kong Tian (attorney and tennis parent) to extend what Barnes has built to other communities. Between Kortland and Redondo, they receive constant inbound calls from coaches and facility managers asking how to build sustainable tennis programs. RKT3’s value proposition: experience across programming (Kortland), facility operations and foundation management (Redondo), and legal/business structure (Tian). The consulting model supports sections — USTA Southern California, Texas, New England — on their facility and programming development plans.

Actionable Advice for Families

• If you are in San Diego: the JUMP program provides free tournament entry for junior circuit and level 7 events at Barnes; use it as the first competitive experience before committing to private coaching
• If you’re interested in digital recruiting exposure: ask your local facility or section program whether they have video documentation capabilities; the 12-camera infrastructure at Barnes is the direction the entire industry needs to move for college recruiting
• If you run a tennis facility or coaching program: look at the Inspire 360 model — pairing digital literacy with tennis creates the multi-value proposition that attracts non-traditional funding sources (homeless school partnerships, corporate digital access grants) that pure tennis programs cannot access
• For programs trying to grow in underserved communities: eight-week consistent sessions with a week break, then repeat — building trust through presence, not one-day events, is the only model that works

INTENNSE Relevance

• San Diego market intelligence: Barnes Tennis Center is a hub facility in one of INTENNSE’s potential West Coast markets; Youth Tennis San Diego has ATP/WTA event hosting experience, an existing junior pipeline, and a proven model for connecting community tennis to professional events — it is the strongest candidate partner organization in the San Diego area
• Community fan activation model: Redondo’s SoCal Pro Circuit activation — simultaneous junior tournament + pro match, host family audiences, free admission — is directly transferable to INTENNSE match days; his approach to building a crowd for a $15,000 pro tennis event using junior tournament traffic is exactly the fan development model INTENNSE needs in early market development
• RKT3 as multi-market partner: RKT3’s work with multiple USTA sections and facilities creates a natural multi-market partner relationship for INTENNSE; rather than building community partnerships market by market independently, a relationship with RKT3 provides access to the facility network they’re already supporting
• Digital learning lab as broadcast technology precedent: The 12-camera livestream system at Barnes for college recruiting video is early-stage professional-grade court coverage; INTENNSE’s fixed-camera multi-angle broadcast infrastructure is a more advanced version of what Barnes has already proven families and coaches will engage with
• Pre-qualifying access model: The three-layer circuit (pre-qualifying → qualifying → main draw) that Redondo endorses as an exposure vehicle for American juniors maps to INTENNSE’s design philosophy — creating competitive pathways at multiple levels so that the professional event is not inaccessible to emerging players; INTENNSE’s roster model (no individual tour costs, salaried teams) is the next step of the same access logic

Notable Quotes

“It starts with love of the game first. That’s the only way you can do it. And then from there, it’s all about opportunity.”

“When school is out from three to six, that’s the most dangerous time for our youth. So let’s bring the tennis in at that time.”

“In San Diego alone, there were over 100,000 kids that didn’t have digital access or couldn’t get on wifi. We thought, okay, well, here’s something — we can help solve that. Maybe not with 100,000 kids, but with five kids. It just takes one.”

“When we start to connect community with tennis and tournaments, we’re going to succeed. You’re going to get more donors, more investments, more connections.”

“The younger we can expose them to that level of tennis, just the better the opportunity. They understand, okay, this is what it takes — and it propels them to a whole new standard.”

“I think, you know, we’re not there yet, but this is all in the process to start really building the platforms for these kids. We can start saying, okay, this is how you set up recruiting. This is how you’re contacting coaches.”