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Aces in Motion's Story

Beginnings

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  • The Gainesville Area Community Tennis Association was founded in 2004 and received 501(c) status in 2009.

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  • The organization successfully advocated for constructing the public 14-clay court facility, Jonesville Tennis Center, and provided after-school tennis instruction at public elementary schools.

Middle School Tennis

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  • Aces in Motion began in summer of 2012, when GACTA initiated a partnership with the 21st Century Community Learning Center program at Howard Bishop Middle School (HBMS).

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  • The HBMS tennis team practiced weekly after school and competed for the first time in spring 2013 in GACTA’s Middle School Tennis League.

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Accepted into USTA

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  • In 2014, GACTA was accepted as a chapter in the USTA Foundation’s National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network.

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  • There are over 250 nonprofit organizations, like AIM, in the NJTL network and AIM is one of the thirteen chapters in Florida and the only chapter in Gainesville. In 2016, AIM was awarded the NJTL Chapter of the Year Award.

Gators in Motion Program

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  • Aces in Motion partnered with the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sports Management (College of Health and Human Performance) in January 2017 to hold the AIM after school program on UF campus.

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  • Middle and high school students were transported after school to the Florida Gym two days a week to experience college life, receive homework assistance and tutoring from UF students.

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  • AIM students also participated in tennis practice at the UF Varsity Courts. The Gators in Motion program concluded in 2020 due to the cessation of in-person school during the COVID-19 pandemic. ​

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Today

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  • Over the past years, we have established many productive partnerships with families, schools, other non-profits, the city of Gainesville, the University of Florida, the USTA Foundation, and the community. In addition to providing tennis/life skills instructions in an after-school setting at several schools, we have evolved into a full-service, five-day-per-week after-school program for middle and high school students from under-resourced families.

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  • The program provides strong academic and tennis programming for middle and high school students primarily attending East Gainesville schools.

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  • We overcome financial barriers to accessing quality after-school programs through our no-fee programming.

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