To celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in March, we’re asking several tennis players in the Mid-Atlantic – of all ages and abilities – about the importance of role models on and off the court and their own role models.

Next up in this mini-series is McKenzie. McKenzie is a TGA Premier Youth Tennis afterschool tennis player in Virginia. We sat down with McKenzie at her last TGA class of the winter session and talked to her about her tennis inspirations as a beginner in the sport. McKenzie earned her yellow wristband and a TGA hat that day so this was a pretty special moment!

How did you first start playing tennis?

My mom taught me how to play tennis at first. It was really cool to learn from my mom because I didn’t really know she could play tennis.  And my mom is good teacher!

What do you like about learning tennis after school with TGA?

My favorite part of learning tennis with TGA is making new friends and learning new things.  I feel really proud and I feel good because I accomplished something new.

Would you ever want to play tennis as a job?

Yeah! Tennis makes you really strong and I like playing tennis because it is challenging so it [tennis as a job] would be challenging and I like that!

Do you know any professional tennis players and what do you think of them?

The Williams Sisters! They make me feel like I could be doing the same thing one day – we are both girls so I feel like I can do what they do.

Check back all month long to read more stories on how having strong role models have helped and are helping girls and women in their tennis careers and their lives. Learn more about how we’re making a difference in lives across the Mid-Atlantic: www.usta.com/midatlanticimpact