Arthur Ashe Kids Day 2016
Loaded with new faces and young talent, Kid’s Day 2016 was a blast under the new roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Hosted by Disney alums Jordan Fisher, Laura Marano and Joey Bragg, ABC television captured the entire slate of live performances and aired an hour-long Kid’s Day special on Sunday.
[lightbox link=”http://andytayloronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/USO16-026.png” thumb=”http://andytayloronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/USO16-026-300×267.png” width=”300″ align=”right” title=”” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]My role, as always, was to keep 20-thousand young fans engaged leading up to and during the taping. From red-carpet interviews to fun-filled fan interaction – I hosted the NJTL performance challenge, where Mykael Carpenter won the chance to test his skills alongside greats Venus Williams, Monica Puig, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Steve Johnson. He was phenomenal – actually outscoring the pros with his precision, earning $15,000 for his NJTL chapter.
Performers included: Flo Rida, Sweden’s Zara Larsson, Troye Sivan, Forever in Your Mind, Sophie Beam, with a special guest appearance by actor, musician and producer Ansel Elgort. Jordan and Laura also performed music from their recent projects.
At just $10 to $25 a ticket, with FREE admission to the grounds festival – Arthur Ashe Kids Day is an affordable and exciting way for families to honor the legacy of a great champion and humanitarian, while gearing up for the tennis season’s final Slam in New York…definitely worth the trip for families arriving with early session US Open tickets.
Photos from the Court. Arthur Ashe Kids Day 2016
What is Arthur Ashe Kids Day? From ArthurAsheKidsDay.com:
Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day is the largest single-day, grassroots tennis and entertainment event in the world, with chart-topping performers, celebrities and some of the best tennis players in the game coming together to celebrate the life and values of tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe. The event takes place the Saturday before the US Open.
Those who have performed at the Ashe Kids’ Day on their way to stardom include Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Ne-Yo, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Fifth Harmony, Hunter Hayes, The Wanted, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and Hanson, among many others.
A “Who’s Who?” of the tennis world has given back to the game during this fun-filled afternoon, including Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. They’ve been joined by celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Nick Cannon, John Cena, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell Tony Hawk, Randy Jackson, Matthew Morrison, and Kenan Thompson, along with First Lady Michelle Obama.
Proceeds from Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day benefit the USTA Foundation which helps fund the National Junior Tennis & Learning Network (NJTL), a nationwide group of more than 500 nonprofit youth-development organizations that provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life-skills programming to more than 225,000 children each year, founded 47 years ago by Arthur Ashe, along with Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder.
