Aerie's Nonprofit Arms Up for Women's Tennis With $50,000 Grant and First-Ever USTA Foundation Merch Collab

The Aerie Real Foundation is putting $50,000 behind women's tennis. The nonprofit, launched in 2022 by Aerie's parent company American Eagle Outfitters, is partnering with the USTA Foundation — the charitable arm of the U.S. Tennis Association — to fund female players and coaches in under-resourced communities across the United States WWD.

The grant will train 500 new female coaches across more than 270 community-based organisations that provide tennis, education and mentorship programmes to young people. Those organisations operate under the USTA Foundation's umbrella, which channels money and structured programming into neighbourhoods where court access and coaching have historically been thin on the ground.

Alongside the grant, the two foundations have built something you can actually buy. Offline by Aerie — Aerie's activewear collection — and the USTA Foundation launched a co-branded merchandise line, a first for the USTA Foundation. The collection includes an Offline by Aerie x USTA Foundation Cloud Fleece classic crewneck sweatshirt and a cotton twill baseball cap. The pieces were set to go on sale beginning Thursday at Aerie's SoHo flagship store at 560 Broadway in Manhattan and online.

Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of American Eagle and Aerie, framed the partnership in personal terms. Tennis, she said, teaches courage, resilience and self-belief — qualities the Aerie Real Foundation works to instil in every young woman. Ginny Ehrlich, chief executive officer of the USTA Foundation, leads the organisation that will distribute the grant and oversee the coach-training pipeline.

The deal threads together two worlds that rarely share a product. Aerie Real, the nonprofit arm of a mall-brand intimates and activewear retailer, sits on the fashion-and-commerce side. The USTA Foundation, governed by the national body that runs American tennis from grassroots to the US Open, sits on the sport-and-philanthropy side. The co-branded merchandise is the first time the USTA Foundation has attached its name to a retail product with a fashion partner.

For the 270-plus community programmes the USTA Foundation supports, the money is practical: 500 newly trained female coaches mean more court time, more mentorship and more visible role models for girls picking up a racket in places where neither has been guaranteed. Whether the sweatshirt sells in SoHo or in Kansas, the grant is already committed.