New Haven Independent

“A healthy, recreational sport like tennis can keep kids off the street,” Worcester, of Pilot Pen Tennis and Market New Haven, said Monday night at City Hall. She was promoting the annual Pilot Pen tennis tournament, which in the past has drawn such tennis luminaries as Lindsay Davenport and James Blake to New Haven during the summer.

Worcester spoke to New Haven aldermen and economic development administrators gathered for a briefing about Pilot Pen’s positive influence in New Haven.

Besides the spike in downtown business during the actual tournament — facilated in part by dining coupons and a specialized trolley system run by the mayor’s office — New Haven reaps the benefits of its evolving reputation as a “tennis town” throughout the year, she argued. Pilot Pen has teamed with New Haven Parks and Recreation and the USTA to create affordable tennis programs for local kids. Edgewood Park, East Shore Park, and Wilbur Cross High School all offer these lessons and have enrolled over 500 new racket-wielders in the past three years. Popular events like the Pilot Pen Free Tennis Lesson and a “block party” tennis clinic on the Green have attracted hordes of New Haveners as well, featuring celebrity players and USTA and Yale coaches. New Haven advocacy groups like JUNTA have also joined Pilot Pen in hosting outreach events such as Latino Day, a series of tennis clinics and motivational talks led by Latino pro players.