She Loves to Serve

Summary

Violet Clark, a USTA National Board member and mother of three tennis-playing daughters, shares her family’s unconventional tennis journey — starting through a grassroots community program called Love to Serve on Chicago’s South Side. Her youngest daughter Gabby went on to win two NCAA Division III Singles Championships at Emory University and now works for the LA 2028 Olympics. Clark offers a powerful counter-narrative to the high-spend, high-travel junior tennis pathway, advocating for team-based development, reducing tournament volume, and trusting parental instincts over peer pressure.

Guest Background

Violet Clark is serving her third term (fifth year) on the USTA National Board of Directors, having previously served as Midwest Section president. She is the mother of three daughters: the oldest attended UNC-Chapel Hill (club tennis), the middle attended Cornell (club tennis, Hotel School), and the youngest, Gabby, played four years at Emory University (D3), winning two NCAA singles titles. Clark’s tennis involvement began through Love to Serve, an African-American centric grassroots program in Chicago founded by Lamont Bryant.

Key Topics

• Love to Serve model: Team-based grassroots program that taught life skills alongside tennis — kids traveled together in uniform, learned restaurant etiquette, money management, and tipping from age 6 onward
• D3 as a strategic choice: Gabby chose Emory for quality education, competitive tennis, and playing high in the lineup rather than riding the bench at a D1 school; she was recruited through doubles for the doubles point
• Over-scheduling regret: Clark would retrospectively cut tournament travel by at least one-third and replace it with development time (fitness, footwork, supplemental training)
• Parental peer pressure: The hardest part was resisting other parents’ expectations about what tournaments to attend; Clark advises trusting your gut and knowing your child
• Separating self from child’s journey: Clark emphasizes that parents must let children make their own decisions about their tennis path, even when it conflicts with parental ambition
• USTA volunteering and NJTL: Clark encourages community involvement through USTA sections, districts, and the USTA Foundation’s NJTL programs that tie tennis with education in under-resourced communities
• Women in sports careers: Gabby now works for LA 2028 Olympics, demonstrating how competitive tennis creates career pathways in sport beyond playing professionally

Actionable Advice for Families

1. Consider team-based programs early — the camaraderie and life skills from group travel and team identity can be more valuable than individual coaching alone
2. Don’t follow the crowd on tournament schedules — reducing travel by a third and investing in development (fitness, footwork, coaching) may produce equal or better results
3. Let the child drive the college decision — when Clark tried to push schools on Gabby, every visit was a disaster; when Gabby chose Emory herself, it was a perfect fit
4. Don’t overlook D3 and non-scholarship paths — Gabby’s two national championships and playing #1 singles/doubles all four years at Emory would not have happened at most D1 programs
5. Doubles can be your ticket — Gabby was recruited for the doubles point and ended up winning two singles titles; invest in doubles development
6. Get involved as a volunteer — visit your USTA section website or the USTA Foundation to find opportunities; the game needs diverse voices in governance

INTENNSE Relevance

• Grassroots program design: Love to Serve’s model of team travel + life skills + tennis is a blueprint for community tennis programming that INTENNSE could study or reference in content
• Anti-over-scheduling thesis: Clark’s hindsight aligns with INTENNSE’s potential messaging around smarter development pathways vs. tournament-industrial-complex spending
• D3/non-traditional pathway storytelling: Gabby Clark’s journey (grassroots to D3 national champion to LA 2028 staff) is a compelling case study for content about the value of college tennis beyond D1 scholarships
• USTA governance insider: Clark’s position on the USTA National Board provides perspective on how policy decisions flow from the top; useful context for understanding USTA’s strategic direction
• Diversity in tennis: The episode highlights the importance of programs serving underrepresented communities, relevant to INTENNSE’s broader mission of growing the sport

Notable Quotes

“If I had it to do over, she would have played half the tournaments. I just don’t think at the end of the day, the tournaments themselves were the key. It was the competition, finding quality competition and quality coaching in the right environment.”

“She was recruited for her doubles because they needed the doubles point. And she ended up playing number one singles and doubles all four years.”

“Stop. I’m not going to just do this because everybody else is saying do it or go. I’ll do as much as I can, but paying attention to what the child really wants matters more at the end.”