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*Before there were powerhouse tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, there was Zina Garrison.
At the 1988 Olympics,’ Garrison made her family and the U.S. proud by nabbing a women’s doubles gold medal and singles bronze medal. She went on to become the first African American woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Althea Gibson (in the 1950s) by making the Wimbledon final in 1990.
Since her heyday, Garrison, 54, has been running her free tennis camp, Zina Garrison Academy (ZGA), in her hometown of Houston, Texas. Garrison has been on tap for at-risk youth since 1992.
“It’s at MacGregor Park and we’ve had over 45,000 kids that have attended the program, “Garrison said. “The guy who taught me how to play, John Wilkerson, is still on the courts with the kids. It’s been a wonderful program but we have many more great things to offer the kids (such as academic tutoring, a campaign with Cheerios in conjunction with Walmart, and a community garden).”
Garrison was still playing tennis when she started ZGA (she retired in 1996). She always knew that she would pay it forward.
“I knew that I wanted to give back and when I was (touring) I would actually give lessons to kids in different places that I went to including under privileged kids,” Garrison said. “The program that I grew up in Houston was free and I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I finished playing tennis.”
Last month, Garrison held a benefit event for ZGA called, “Eat. Play. Love.” For a weekend, tennis tournaments, food, a fashion show, and much more were featured.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and the Food Network’s Chef Jake Smollett, of “Smollett Eats” attended. The fashion show featured clothing from EleVen by another tennis great, Venus Williams.
“It was really, really cool,” “The great thing about it was that The Art Institute of Houston sent out three students and we had five local celebrity judges that voted on their outfits and they got scholarships.”
She continued, “We had ZGA kids in the fashion show who wore clothes from Venus’ line and they got to keep the clothes and be on her social media.”
Speaking of Venus, Garrison added that she and her sister, Serena, “Have defied all odds and broke so many barriers coming up. A lot of people seem to have a say about what they should and should not be doing but they’re enjoying the game and doing what they need to do.”
While Garrison was knocking balls out of the park back in the day, she suffered from the eating disorder bulimia for much of career. The disease still affects her today but she knows how to handle it.
“It will be a struggle to the end of my life,“ she said. “But the great thing is that I know what my triggers are. I would tell younger people to don’t be afraid to get help and make changes. Society puts such a hard ‘you have to look one way’ on us but everybody’s different. I’m on the last days of a 30 day challenge and a plant based diet. I feel great.”
She even went on the reality television competition, “The Biggest Loser” in 2014. She was the first person eliminated from that show. Looking back, Garrison said, “I will never do that form of TV again. They can have it. I am actually an introvert but it was major stepping stone for what I needed to do for myself. I was a recluse during that time of my life and I needed to step out. It was good for that.”
As for the next crop of black women tennis superstars, Garrison believes it will be a while before we see the next powerplayers.
“It’s going to be very difficult,” she said. “The system is still not set up, but that’s my opinion. You have to have more coaches and we need to get a lot more tennis players involved. It’s a struggle for African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color. You have to have places for them to go and to able to afford it. I have a free program but I have to really push to get people (interested).”
Garrison received quite a setback when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last August. She lost her home, all of her tennis champion photos, and ZGA sustained a great deal of damage. However, nothing is stopping her from running her academy, which she also plans to open a fitness and wellness center. For more information on the Zina Garrison Academy, go here.
