As the courts cool down from last week‘s celebrity tennis action, city leaders heralded the impact the Pilot Pen tournament has on the city, including helping the city tennis program reach over 1,000 city kids.
The Pilot Pen tennis tournament brought 95,000 spectators to New Haven last week, filling the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in Westville with world-famous athletes and plenty of international flavor. To those who question the benefit of using the stadium only one week per year, Mayor John DeStefano Tuesday touted the tournament’s impact in supporting the local economy and fostering budding tennis stars during the rest of the year.
“When the lights go out and the net comes down, tennis is alive and well in New Haven,” said the mayor.
The city contributed $135,000 this year towards the Pilot Pen, which is climbing out of debt accrued when it introduced male players three years ago, said Tournament director Anne Worcester (pictured above at left). The city’s contribution is 3 percent of the $4 million budget; the tournament must raise the other 97 percent through sponsorship and ticket revenue.
For the contribution the city puts into the tournament, “the value we get is incredible,” said DeStefano. Worcester estimated the economic impact on the region — in dollars spent at hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and local stores — to be $50 million. “That’s a conservative estimate,” said Worcester. The estimate was generated by looking at the impact of tennis tournaments in similar-sized cities, modified with info on New Haven.
The benefit far exceeds that dollar figure, Worcester and DeStefano argued: The blitz of media coverage — the tournament was displayed for 20 hours on national TV, and viewed in 165 countries— put New Haven in the “limelight.”
And the free lessons offered by bigshot players to city kids help foster the love of the game and boost the city tennis programs, they argued.
When the city parks and rec tennis program started five years ago, it had only 40 participants, said city tennis director John Pirtel. The program, which offers affordable lessons to school-aged kids up to 14 years old, now hosts over 1,100 young racket-swinging enthusiasts. While the Pilot Pen doesn’t fund the program, the tournament, through the United States Tennis Association, helped fix up city courts and does wonders for promotion, said Pirtel.
When Pilot Pen celebs offer free lessons to kids, the tournament makes sure every kid goes home with a flyer about the city tennis program, said Pirtel. “They’re able to reach more kids in one swipe than we can all year.”
In other citywide tennis news, New Haven’s Team Tennis were state champions in the 18 and Under Intermediate division and came in 3rd in USTA New England sectionals.
