Founded by Skip - Reimagining Community through Tennis

David “Skip” Span is a nationally recognized tennis professional and the founder of Open Courts Initiative, a Kansas City-based effort to rebuild tennis as a public, accessible, and community-driven sport.

Skip grew up playing tennis on public courts in New York, where access—not status—was the foundation of his early development in the game. That experience shaped how he understands sport: not as something reserved for a select few, but as a pathway for opportunity, discipline, and personal growth. Years later, as a coach, parent, and lifelong student of the game, he began to see a widening gap between elite private training environments and the public parks where many players are first introduced to tennis.

That realization became a turning point. Like many youth sports, tennis has become increasingly expensive and privatized, limiting access for families who don’t fit into traditional club systems. Open Courts Initiative was built in response to that shift — to restore tennis as a citywide resource and reconnect it to the communities it once naturally served.

Professionally, Skip brings more than a decade of high-performance coaching experience. A former #1 junior in the USTA Eastern Section and Division I player at Illinois State University, he helped lead his team to a Missouri Valley Conference Championship and earned All-Conference honors. He has coached elite juniors and collegiate-level players across the country, including nationally ranked j

uniors, USTA top-10 athletes, and a junior Wimbledon finalist.

Over the years, Skip has worked with players who have gone on to compete at prominent universities across the country and at the highest levels of junior and professional tennis. He has also spent many years working closely with ATP professional Donald Young Jr., supporting him through key stages of his professional career, including his final competitive run, which culminated in a runner-up finish in mixed doubles at the 2024 US Open alongside Taylor Townsend.

He has served as Varsity Academy Director for Kansas City United Tennis, Head Tennis Professional at Blue Hills Country Club, and has been recognized multiple times by USTA Missouri Valley/Heart of America for his contributions to high-performance player development. In 2024, he was named RSPA Missouri Pro of the Year.

Through Open Courts Initiative, Skip is focused on building something bigger than player development alone — a sustainable tennis ecosystem that connects public parks, schools, and clubs into one pathway. The goal is simple but ambitious: to make tennis a sport where access is not determined by income, but by interest, effort, and community support.

The vision is a citywide movement built around tennis as a vehicle for discipline, opportunity, character, and long-term growth — and a model for how public tennis can thrive in Kansas City and beyond.