The Washington Area Tennis Association (WATA) is a 501c7 entity (not-for-profit organization) that was founded to promote tennis (Age 18 and above) in Maryland and Washington, DC. Prior to WATA’s inception, Richard Gottfried began organizing World Teamtennis (WTT) leagues in 1991, which are now called Impact Team Tennis (ITT) as of 2023.
Richard’s dedication to promoting community tennis is evidenced by his thirty-two years of organizing World Teamtennis leagues, and culminated in receiving the WTT Delaine Mast Award for Top League Director of the Year, which was personally awarded to him by Billie Jean King.
Under the leadership of Billie Jean King, a founder of WTT and Delaine Mast, Richard grew the recreational WTT leagues and was consistently a “top 10’ league director in the country.
Beginning in 2023, recreational World Teamtennis was reorganized under a new entity called Impact Team Tennis which endeavors to preserve the legacy of Billie Jean King’s WTT.
WATA offers a variety of tennis formats to the age 18 and older tennis community.
WATA offers Impact Team Tennis leagues year-round:
- Outdoor Tennis: May to June, July to August and September and October
- Indoor Tennis: November to April
- League play for the Corporate, Government, and Not-For-Profit organizations
- Qualifying Teams for all levels may advance to one of six Regional Championships held at various locations across the country and teams that win the Regional Championships have an opportunity to advance to the National Championships.
WATA offers other tennis programs such as:
- Indoor Social Tennis doubles, singles and Young Professionals (Age 21 to 39) on Friday Nights
- Tennis Parties
- Tennis Tournaments
- Tennis Meetups in Washington, DC and Maryland
WATA confers potential social, health, wellness and networking benefits to the tennis community for ages 18 and above including:
- Health, Wellness and networking benefits to corporations, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations who sponsor corporate ITT teams.
- Health benefits: such as reducing cardiovascular disease; stronger bones; reduce stress; and weight loss.
- Community Benefit: where players have the opportunity to support the American Red Cross via fundraising tennis socials.
WATA is in compliance with the IRS and files the required Form 990-N annually.
Additionally, WATA is in compliance with the State of Maryland’s State Department and Assessments and files the required Annual Report and Form 1 Personal Property Tax return annually.
