About Us
Above the Net was founded when three avid recreational tennis players in Henry County, GA felt that there was a need to expand participation in the sport particularly by the youth in the area. Henry County lacked a tennis program in most middle schools and as a result students would begin participating in other sports at that grade level. In turn, high school tennis programs began to falter.
With an underutilized resource of tennis courts at Richard Craig Park, the founders decided to create a non-profit all about growing youth participation in tennis in the area and leveraging that sport for college scholarships, strengthening communities, and building life skills.
Caniece Haywood
Founder
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Caniece was born and raised in Harlan, Kentucky but has lived in Henry County, Georgia off and on for over ten years
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Caniece has been married to her husband Hodges for over 15 years and they have one teenage son. All three can regularly be seen out on the courts!
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Caniece graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Harvard Business School with a Masters in Business Administration and has spent her 25+ year career as a business executive in retail, technology, healthcare, and financial services with an unwavering commitment to delivering superior customer results
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Caniece was first introduced to team tennis in 2018 and has developed an unyielding passion for the sport and is an active member of ALTA and USTA
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Above the Net is an opportunity for Caniece to put her tennis passion into action to help develop the next generation of tennis lovers and enable youth to leverage the sport for college scholarships and other opportunities
Brenda Gant
Co-Founder
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Brenda was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio but has lived in Henry County, GA for nearly 15 years
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Brenda, married for over 33 years to Larry Gant, is the proud mother of adult triplet sons
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Brenda graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor's degree in Arts and Science and recently retired from the airline industry after 34 years in various Customer Service roles in which she was praised for her commitment to delivering premium customer service
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Brenda was first introduced to tennis in the 1980s and has developed a love for the sport as an active member of ALTA, USTA, and Flexible Tennis Leagues
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The relationships Brenda has formed through these programs have enhanced her skill set and encouraged her to dedicate her time and efforts to grow the sport among our youth in Henry County
Monica Johnson
Co-Founder
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Monica was born in Fort Lee, VA as a military "brat" and moved around quite a bit as a youth
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Monica has lived the past 22 years in McDonough, GA
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Monica has been married to her husband Henry for over 25 years and they have two sons
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Monica graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems and has spent the last 30 years developing mainframe software solutions starting her career at FedEx and then working 23 years at Delta Air Lines before retiring in 2020
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Monica fell in love with the game of tennis over 10 years ago and has spent many fun-filled days on the court, along with her husband who is also an avid tennis player
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As an active member of USTA and ALTA, Monica believes that tennis is a unique sport that can be learned, played and enjoyed at any age
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Monica believes that learning tennis as a youth sets the foundation for many life lessons such as, relationship-building, sportsmanship, problem-solving, and overall enjoyment
Meet our Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors is critical to our success. The individual members and the collective provide governance, strategic oversight, and accountability for our executive team and each shares the same passion for what we do at Above the Net ---- serving the underserved through sports-based youth development focused on the mind, body, and spirit of the child!
Katie Stephenson
Katie was born and raised in Texas, but has lived in both Atlanta and Henry County for over 10 years following her time in the U.S. Air Force. Katie has one daughter who is an avid tennis player taking part in all thing’s tennis year-round.
Katie graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelors of Science in Nutritional Science and a Graduate Certificate in Curriculum Development with an emphasis in Dyslexia and Communication Disorders from Southern New Hampshire University. Katie is an active candidate sitting for the completion of her Master’s of Education in Curriculum Development with a concentration in Special Education and Communication Disorders.
Katie’s professional career is deeply rooted service leadership and advocacy of access developed through time spent in logistics, both military and civilian-based, and post-secondary education currently.
Katie was first exposed to tennis as a spectator who grew up watching her aunt play ALTA matches each time she visited Atlanta. Her passion for the sport and its importance for our youth was ignited the inaugural day of Above the Net on the tennis courts when her daughter picked up her first racquet and has gone full steam ahead the last four and a half years!!
Tanieka Thompson-Mungo
Attorney Tanieka Thompson-Mungo is the managing attorney of the Thompson Mungo firm and oversees the operations of the firm. She practices estate planning that is dedicated to providing solutions for each client' s specific needs. Mrs. Thompson Mungo is a member of Wealth Counsel, a nationally recognized organization in the estate planning world that provides attorneys with exceptional estate planning resources to competently meet client needs.
She received her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and her Bachelor of Arts from Georgia State University. Mrs. Thompson Mungo attained her license to practice law in 2013 and is licensed to practice before all State and Superior Courts in Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Mrs. Thompson-Mungo is a member of the State Bar of Georgia ' s sections on Fiduciary Law and Privacy & Technology, Henry County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Attorney Thompson-Mungo is married to her wonderful husband Johnathan and they have three energetic little boys. She enjoys traveling with her family, playing tennis, gardening, reading about GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and taking on fun DIY projects at home.
Attorney Thompson-Mungo and her family attend Wesley United Methodist Church in McDonough, Georgia.
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Barbara R. Dorsey, RN, MSN
Barbara Dorsey is a nursing professional who has spent her 40+ year career providing home health services, healthcare administration, and federal grant review services in Kentucky, Washington, D.C. and Georgia. Her focus has always been on rural health, home health, and community health and she is a strong advocate for children and family caregivers.
In addition to her professional career, Barbara has been a Sunday School teacher for over 40 years at every church of which she has been a member. She has served on several Boards including Harlan County for a Healthy Community, Black Parents and Friends, Leadership Harlan County, and Griffin-Spalding Black Heritage Festival. She has participated as a nurse on medical mission trips both domestically and abroad with Arms of Care and the Haitian Ministry Theophile Church in Christ.
In her spare time, Barbara enjoys traveling around the world having visited four continents and over 20 countries. She also enjoys spending time with her family and supporting her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc at sports activities, graduations, award ceremonies, and anything else to which she has been invited. For several years she served as the President of the Reid-Smith Family Reunion Georgia Committee that has hosted over 20 reunions in Georgia over the last 35 years.
Babara has first hand experience with Above the Net as she was a founding donor, volunteer at our first large event Tennispolooza, and a tutor for our Learning Program at the Shaquille O’Neal Boys and Girls Club.
Now, as she retires, she’d like to help the organization continue to grow and serve even more children to experience healthy lifestyle activities.
Barbara received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Eastern Kentucky University, and her Masters of Nursing as a Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of Kentucky. She currently resides in Griffin, Georgia and is the proud mother of three children, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Our Mission
To empower youth by leveraging tennis as a tool to
strengthen community bonds, drive academic success, and build essential life skills.
Our Vision
To transform communities and expand opportunity for underserved youth by combining tennis, literacy enrichment, social, and emotional support.