Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center (STEC) has been selected as one of 150 local nonprofits from among 630 applicants to share in a $30 million purse through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The Dorchester-based organization will receive $100,000 a year for 10 years after undergoing a competitive review process.

For more than 60 years, STEC has leveraged tennis to open doors of opportunity for youth in some of Boston’s most underserved communities. As one of the largest organizations in the USTA’s National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network, it provides top-tier tennis instruction, academic support, and life skills programming for more than 5,000 youth annually.

In addition, STEC is home to hundreds of adult members from across Metro Boston, who rent courts, take lessons, compete on traveling teams, and share their time and talents with Enrichment Center youth.

“We are extraordinarily grateful for this investment, and the vote of confidence that this gift represents from the Cummings Foundation,” said Toni Wiley, Sportsmen’s chief executive officer. “Over the last four years, Cummings has funded our Learning Center, and has been an amazing institutional partner. This 10-year grant is transformational for both Sportsmen’s current programs, and our future legacy.”

Sportsmen’s is committed to tackling the literacy gap in young learners aged 5 to 8 who are facing Covid slide and learning loss due to remote learning, and social emotional wellness and mental health challenges due to pandemic lockdowns and school closures. The grant will fund increased academic, enrichment, and emotional support to help close the widening achievement gap for vulnerable children along Boston’s Blue Hill Avenue corridor.

“The way the local nonprofit sector perseveres, steps up, and pivots to meet the shifting needs of the community is most impressive,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes. “We are incredibly grateful for these tireless efforts to support people in the community and to increase equity and access to opportunities.”

The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $225,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a volunteer panel to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.