When the Berkeley Tennis Club became a venue for the $60,000 Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge in 2018, it was another great opportunity to show USTA Northern California’s relevancy in the news. As one of the stops to earn a Wild Card for the US Open, this world-class tournament was a major stop on the WTA Tour, making it very appealing for television, especially as tennis is very relevant during the summer. Several top 100 players in the world were on the roster, attracting local tennis fans to watch world-class tennis up-close.

The added benefits of having a historic location and the event being free, made it very appealing for television stations to promote. ABC7 news picked up the story and shot the segment at the Berkeley Tennis Club, leading to a bigger crowd during the actual event. 

 

1.    I built a relationship with a journalist from ABC7 who is passionate about tennis and plays the sport, so when this opportunity presented itself, I reached out to her. 

• I made the Tournament Director available for an on-camera interview to give a different angle than the one I was giving as the Public Relations Specialist for USTA NorCal.

• The segment was a success and generated a lot of spectators for the tournament and excitement

2.    I also drafted a press release, which was sent out to a list of local and national journalists. ​​​Thanks to that, more stories were written in local newspapers and well-known tennis blogs, giving USTA NorCal more exposure​