Lobs and Lessons is an award winning youth tennis program which serves over 600 kids annually at the Mary and Frances Youth Center on the VCU campus. The MFYC facility, including classrooms and two tennis courts, was built thanks to the generosity of Michael and Elizabeth Fraizer. Lobs and Lessons was created by VCU graduate students in the Center for Sports Leadership and was designed to use the sport of tennis to promote academics, strengthen life skills and create a pathway to higher education. Through tennis, the participants in the program learn etiquette, integrity and teamwork. The location of the facility on the VCU campus immerses the kids in college life and allows them to visualize this as part of their academic future.

In 2006, VCU’s former president, Eugene Trani, noted at MFYC’s groundbreaking, that VCU “saw the need for a real platform for expanded youth programs and a permanent home for Lobs and Lessons.” At the same event, Michael Fraizer commented, “I can’t think of anything more important than providing disadvantaged youth with a place to come and learn and grow.”

In 2015 Lobs and Lessons received USTA/Mid-Atlantic’s Innovation Award and in 2013 it received the Virginia Organization of the Year Award from Mid-Atlantic. USTA named Lobs and Lessons as the National Junior Tennis and Learning Chapter of the Year for its on and off court impact on local youth development through leadership and excellence in youth tennis and educational programing. In addition, Lobs and Lessons was named the USTA/Mid-Atlantic Community Program of the Year for its Young Aces Open which started in 2010 and has brought fourth and fifth graders from every public elementary school in Richmond to VCU’s campus to compete in a day long tennis tournament. Other innovative events created by Lobs and Lessons to engage the youth and their families in the VCU community include the Family Open and Lobs & Lights. In collaboration with a community partner, they host ACEing Autism, a national NJTL initiative to provide tennis for autistic youth.

Lobs and Lessons’ innovative service to the Richmond community using the game of tennis deserves the highest recognition we can bestow. We are proud to welcome Lobs and Lessons into our Hall of Fame.