Youth League Tennis was first offered throughout Southern California by Laura Kassirer's company, Laura's TIPS in the Spring of 2002 at 16 tennis sites from Westlake to San Clemente. It was created to give the students playing in Laura's TIPS after school tennis enrichment programs, an opportunity to experience match play on real tennis courts in their community.



Approximately 425 kids signed up to play. At this time players were grouped into 3 levels: red, yellow and blue. All players were supposed to have had some tennis experience before joining the league, and at a minimum be able to start a rally with a drop hit forehand. At most sites, there were several players that were still beginners and not ready to play matches, even though they had some previous instruction. In addition, during registration over 150 youth that had never played tennis wished to join Laura's TIPS Youth League Tennis. At the time, Laura's TIPS did not register beginners. As a result, Youth League Tennis introduced the green level for beginners in the Fall of 2002.



Laura's TIPS also brought in over 70 High School tennis players to volunteer their time to help umpire and coach the youth during their matches. High School students were given community service hours for their time, and the SCTA approved an incentive program jointly with the CIF where they rewarded teams for their volunteer efforts. Each team was sent a free case of Wilson tennis balls, by the SCTA for every 16 hours total that a team member served. The goal of this program is to have High School students help promote High School tennis.