Community members gathered outside City Hall Wednesday morning to “Rally for Kiest.” Photo by Victoria Hernandez.

For the past month, the community members of Kiest Tennis Center have been ramping up their efforts to save their beloved program. Their voices were heard at Wednesday’s meeting as the city council rejected the proposal to award a management contract to the company Impact Activities.

Kiest Tennis Center is currently under the management of Dallas Tennis and Education Academy (DTEA), a nonprofit organization that offers free and affordable tennis programming at the center. The organization manages the center, along with providing volunteer opportunities, mentorship programs and tutoring on-site. 

Since learning that for-profit tennis organization Impact Activities would bid for the center last year, community members have been waiting for the decision to come through on whether or not DTEA could remain at the center. The Change.org petition started ahead of the council meeting and garnered over 2,000 signatures in support of DTEA at Kiest Tennis Center.

Individuals dressed in white and shirts with the phrase “Rally for Kiest” met outside of Dallas City Hall on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. With the council meeting starting about an hour later, 

North Oak Cliff resident Rebecca Teresi was the first to share about the impact of DTEA for her family during public comment.

“Traditionally, tennis is a sport whose many physical, social, and cognitive benefits are decidedly not available to everyone. And that is exactly what DTEA is all about,” Teresi said Wednesday morning. “Every child is welcome. DTEA loans any child free of cost into an entry-level program. You don’t even need to send your child in with a racket. This is how my son, and later my daughter, started in the program, and fell in love with the sport. I have seen them grow up not only physically, but emotionally, and in maturity in their time of DTEA. It’s a program that is about much more than athletics.”

Those who registered to speak on the agenda item specifically were not heard until 10 hours later, after Mayor Eric Johnson had left the council chambers.

John Wilson IV, an Oak Cliff native, said that he started at Kiest Tennis Center at 6 years old and went on to be a Division I college tennis player.  He noted that thousands of Kiest Tennis Center players have gone on to play in college and earn scholarships for tennis like himself.

“Kiest Tennis Center is not a country club,” he said to the council. “It is a community institution that has put people before profits for generations. The children of Oak Cliff are counting on you all.”

The agenda item called for awarding a contract to Impact Activities for four tennis centers in Dallas, but Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Maxie Johnson made a motion to separate Kiest Tennis Center for individual consideration. The other three tennis centers (Samuel Grand Tennis Center, Fretz Tennis Center and L.B. Houston Tennis Center), received the city council’s vote to renew contracts for Impact Activities, which already managed those facilities. 

When it came time to discuss Kiest Tennis Center, Johnson thanked the community for coming out and for the community meetings they have had.

“I believe that there’s an opportunity to strengthen the partnership with the DT(E)A and the City of Dallas, and strengthen our partnership with our community concerning this process,” he said.

Following this vote, the bidding and procurement process for Kiest Tennis Center management will restart.