Savannah’s Story

She Cried on the Court. Not Because She Won. Because She Knew She Belonged.

How one young woman from Anguilla found confidence, opportunity, and her place in the world through the Anguilla Tennis Academy.

Help Open the Court for One Child This Summer

Savannah’s story began on ATA’s courts. This summer, your $50 gift can help another child step onto the court, build confidence and discover what is possible.

Sponsor One Child for $50: Individual Donation

When Savannah Croft stepped onto the court for her first collegiate tennis season in the United States, she carried more than a tennis racket.

She carried the hopes of a small island. She carried years of practice, sacrifice, and determination. And she carried the quiet question so many young people ask when they enter a new environment: Do I belong here?

Savannah grew up in Anguilla and learned to play tennis at the Anguilla Tennis Academy. Like hundreds of children who have come through the Academy over the past three decades, she arrived as a young student with an opportunity to learn, grow, and challenge herself.

Years later, that journey would take her thousands of miles from home to Post University, where she competed in her first season of collegiate tennis.

But the transition was not easy.

When Savannah arrived in the United States, she found herself surrounded by athletes with national rankings, extensive tournament histories, and years of competitive statistics. She had something different. She had discipline. She had resilience. She had the foundation built on the courts of the Anguilla Tennis Academy.

Even with all of that, self-doubt crept in.

I stared at my zeros and let them define me. In reality, I played on my team’s starting six. Many freshmen never get this opportunity.

SAVANNAH CROFT

What she could not see at first was how far she had already come.

She began the season playing Singles #5 and Doubles #3. As the year progressed, she continued to improve, moving up the lineup and earning greater responsibility and trust from her team.

Then came a moment she will never forget: her first collegiate victory.

When the match ended, Savannah cried. Not because of the score. Not only because she had won. But because, in that moment, she realized something much bigger.

She belonged.

The years of hard work mattered. The sacrifices mattered. The dreams she carried from Anguilla mattered. And the foundation built at the Anguilla Tennis Academy helped make it possible.

It filled me with pride for my academy, my coaches, and especially Anguilla. In that moment, I felt like I put my island on the map, even if in a small way.

SAVANNAH CROFT

Savannah’s story is powerful because it is personal. It is also a reminder of something larger: access to sports can shape how young people see themselves, how they handle challenges, and how they imagine their futures.

Research continues to show that physical activity and youth sports can support healthy development. The CDC notes that regular physical activity for children can improve attention and memory, reduce the risk of depression, strengthen bones and muscles, and support overall health. The Aspen Institute’s Project Play also reports that sports and physical activity are associated with improved academic achievement, concentration, attention, and classroom behavior.

For girls and young women, the benefits can extend even further. Research by the Women’s Sports Foundation found that many women carry the lessons of youth sports into adulthood, including teamwork, learning from mistakes, handling pressure, and leadership.

At ATA, those benefits are not abstract. They happen when a child learns to keep trying after a missed shot. When a coach tells a young person they are capable. When a student discovers focus, discipline, friendship, and confidence on the court. When a child begins to believe that they belong.

That is what ATA has been providing since 1996.

Every year, children walk through ATA’s gates with different dreams, different backgrounds, and different challenges. Some come to learn tennis. Some come to make friends. Some come because they need a safe and positive place to grow. Some may one day earn college scholarships. Others may discover confidence they carry into school, careers, families, and leadership roles throughout their lives.

The outcome may be different for every child. The opportunity should not be.

This summer, the Anguilla Tennis Academy will once again open its courts to children across the island through its annual Summer Camp program, taking place July 20 to 31.

ATA’s goal is to sponsor 50 children before registration closes on July 13.

A gift of just $50 sponsors one child for the full two-week Summer Camp experience.

That gift provides more than tennis instruction. It provides mentorship, encouragement, movement, discipline, confidence, friendship and possibility.

Most importantly, it gives a child the chance to discover what Savannah discovered: that they belong.

Because every child deserves the opportunity to step onto a court, believe in themselves, and begin writing a story of their own.

SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY

A gift of $50 sponsors one child for the full two-week Anguilla Tennis Academy Summer Camp experience.

Sponsor One Child for $50: Individual Donation

Together, we can help open the court for another child who deserves the chance to belong, grow, and discover what is possible.