Our Story
When Twin Cities businessman Fred Wells signed up for tennis lessons at the age of 65, he realized a tennis court could provide powerful lessons like sportsmanship, perseverance and hard work. Fred conceived a powerful vision: offer tennis and life skills development opportunities to inspire youth from under-resourced communities to be successful on and off the court.
The Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center, affectionately known as The Fort, opened in 2002, and since then, we have been intentionally breaking down barriers to participation; as a public tennis facility, we offer some of most affordable courts and junior and adult tennis programs in the Twin Cities. We also offer TennisWorks, our youth development program serving grades 3-12 through school and community partnerships. At the heart of our program is our deep commitment to providing a safe, supportive environment with caring adults who reinforce our “Fort Five”—Safety, Respect, Commitment, Integrity and Kindness.
On the 10th anniversary of The Fort's founding, we were rewarded for Wells’ visionary thinking and our hard work with several prestigious awards: 2011 USTA National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) Chapter of the Year, USTA Member Organization of the Year and PTR Facility of the Year.
In 2013, Tennis magazine honored our groundbreaking programs by featuring us in its “Heroes” issue. In 2018, we were named an Aspen Institute Project Play Champion for our efforts to follow youth sport best practices and remove barriers to participation. In 2021, The Fort received recognition by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion as a National Youth Sports Strategy Champion.