STEAM Based Tennis Fitness at LA County Parks

Green space, park access, and trees

East LA South LA San Gabriel Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The issue we aim to address with the STEAM-Based Tennis Fitness program is the lack of engaging, holistic education and physical activity in underserved schools. Many students have limited access to quality fitness and enriching academic experiences that link learning to real life. By combining STEAM and tennis-based fitness, we confront educational inequity, childhood inactivity, and the need for innovative teaching. In LA, fewer than 1 in 4 youth meet CDC activity guidelines, and over 35% of low-income youth are overweight or obese. Barriers include cost, safety, and limited transport. LAUSD data reveals ongoing disparities in physical education access. As screen time rises, few digital tools encourage real-world movement or connection. These challenges are urgent and interwoven. Without action, we risk worsening health and equity gaps. Now is the time to build accessible, community-rooted wellness solutions that empower LA’s youth to move, connect, and thrive.

This grant will support the expansion of LoveSetMatch’s STEAM-Based Tennis Fitness Program, which brings high-energy, educational tennis sessions directly to public parks and schools in East and South Los Angeles. At parks with tennis courts, we offer programming from beginner instruction to high-performance training. At sites without courts, trained instructors use portable nets, foam balls, and chalk lines to transform blacktops into dynamic learning courts, where students explore STEAM concepts like force, motion, angles, and human biology through movement. The program empowers youth with hands-on experiences that promote health, curiosity, and confidence within their local LA County Parks.
Our program has already been active at Belvedere, City Terrace, Ruben Salazar, Amigo, Saybrook, and Ladera Parks, showing both demand and success across diverse community locations.Our goal with STEAM-based tennis is to educate children in physics and science on the court, allowing them to experience real-world STEAM through sports. Students learn real-time physics concepts like centrifugal force, gravity, and biomechanics while playing. This hands-on learning model equips students to return to the classroom more engaged, confident, and academically prepared. Ultimately, our program aims to support long-term academic success and help students graduate from high school with a deeper understanding of how science and movement intersect in their daily lives.

If our work succeeds, LA County will see a generation of students who are more active, curious, and confident in both body and mind. Parks will gain a scalable, low-cost model that blends movement and learning to improve health, academics, and community ties. Students—regardless of zip code—will access whole-child education that prepares them for success.
Short-Term (Oct 2025–Oct 2026):
Expand to 3+ parks
Train new STEAM Tennis instructors
Release integrated PE/STEAM/SEL curriculum
Survey families on outcomes
Track fitness, learning, and confidence
Long-Term:
Scale to 25+ parks in 5 years
Partner with schools/universities to build a coach pipeline
Integrate into park budgets/public-private models
Advocate for STEAM fitness in education
With this grant, we will lay the foundation for a county-wide movement that reimagines what education can look like when students are given the space to move, learn, and thrive together.