XSTEF emerged from XS Tennis, a program that started in 2005 on Chicago’s South Side with a small cohort of tennis players. These players proudly learned to play in Dunbar Park in the summer, and the unheated National Guard Armory on 51st and Cottage Grove during the winter. Their grit, pride, charisma, and success sparked interest from other children around Chicago from different socio economic backgrounds. With the thought that no child should be left behind, XS Tennis formed XSTEF, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, in order to reach and support a greater number of Chicago’s urban youth.