'We need more women': Tennis exec Katrina Adams paving the way for women on the court and in the boardroom
CHICAGO (CBS)-- It's Women's History Month and CBS 2 is celebrating the ladies leaving a legacy.
CBS 2's Audrina Bigos is highlighting Katrina Adams, a trailblazer on the tennis court who's now leading in the boardroom. Now she's sharing her plans to promote and develop the game of tennis all over the world.
Adams was the first Black tennis player to win two major titles: the Illinois High School State Tennis Championship in '83 and '84 while attending Whitney Young HS; and the NCAA Doubles Championship in '87 while attending Northwestern University.
She then went pro, scoring 20 career doubles titles before hanging up her racket to coach and commentate.
Among all of her firsts, sometimes she was the only. She was the only Black girl on the team and the only Black woman on the court.
Then she was the Black woman at the decision making tables.
Adams became the first Black person and the only former player to serve as president of the USTA.
This was before going global as the current Vice President of the International Tennis Federation where she continues to call for racial and gender equality on and off the court, while working to get more women in leadership.
"Being decision makers of sport, we need more women, we need more diversity of thought," Adams said.
Adams wrote about that in her book, "Own the Arena."
Her advice to women, "Make sure you're prepared when you walk in that room so you can open the door for someone to come and join you."
Adams said her roots are in Chicago.
"I'm born and raised on the West Side of Chicago and that's where my blood, sweat and tears will always live," She said.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Boys & Girls Club is where it all started.
"The program is for ages 9 to 18, I was only 6 and so I literally sat outside for weeks begging them to let me in the program," She said.
From the courts in Chicago's West Garfield Park to the boardrooms in countries around the world.
"We don't get to the top by ourselves, we are sharing on the shoulder of those before us. We're walking in the footprints of those before us," Adams said. "We need to recognize the people that have made it possible for you to be where you are."
Adams runs a tennis program in Harlem in New York putting racquets in the hands of kids and using tennis as a vehicle to get them college scholarships.
