The Washington Tennis and Education Foundation has been providing students in D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8 with after-school academic support and tennis instruction for decades. Now, the nonprofit is serving up the experience of a lifetime for three of its Alumni Bridge students.
For the second straight year, a trio of WTEF alums are interning at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open — a WTA, or Women’s Tennis Association, 500-level pro tennis tournament.
“It’s a dream come true,” 18-year-old Marcus Phillip said before his first venture overseas. “I’m really excited to get to experience something I know a lot of people my age or my skin color … would just love to experience.”
The interns work across a variety of areas, including guest management and hospitality services, event and tournament operations, and PR, marketing and communications. The days are long and the work is demanding, but the benefits are long lasting.
The Mubadala x WTEF Global Internship Exchange Program pairs WTEF alums with university students from the UAE for hands-on experience at the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open in July and at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE in February. Each year, the program combines three WTEF alumni and three UAE university students across both events.
“The behind-the-scenes experience is really priceless, particularly for students at that age,” WTEF CEO Candace Smith said. “They are seeing every aspect of the tournaments and how they’re run and getting insider information and insight that hopefully will ignite some interest to go deeper in that field.”
The interns work in a variety of areas, including guest and hospitality services, event and tournament operations, and marketing. The days are long and the work is demanding, but the benefits long lasting.
“I had a very life-changing experience,” said WTEF alum Kobi Sankofa, who went through the internship program last year.
“It’s more than just the work,” he said. “You’ll sometimes have a chance to go off and really connect with the people you’re working with. You make good friends, you learn discipline and responsibility. You pick up real life skills.”
Sankofa, 19, said he has maintained contact with some of the foreign students he met through the program.
“The opportunity to see the Middle East, and to experience a different culture, and then to also work within that context is really something special,” Candace Smith said.
The WTEF offers after-school programming for students ages 5 through 18. On a typical weekday, students receive 90 minutes of after-school academic support and 90 minutes of tennis instruction and athletics.
The WTEF’s stated goal is to build life champions through high-quality tennis instruction, robust academic enrichment and life-enhancing lessons. Alums also receive guidance on resume building, career opportunities and creating their LinkedIn profiles.
Before leaving for his 17-day trip abroad, Phillip reflected on the impact WTEF has had on his life.
“When I was younger, I had a bad temper problem and I wasn’t the average nice kid,” he conceded. “But the adults here and everybody I’ve grown up around have helped me build my personality. … Coming here and allowing people to help me, it’s allowed me to realize that this tennis center really (offers) a lot of opportunities. I’m grateful to have been able to take a part in that.”
Phillip is now a freshman at the University of Maryland, where he is a member of the club tennis team and studying cybersecurity.
He also returns to the WTEF Southeast D.C. campus to serve as an instructor for the next generation of WTEF students.
“It’s a really good program that can open your eyes to something bigger,” he said. “It changed my life forever.”
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