Tennis News
USTA-ITA Unveil New Strategic Alliance to Elevate College Tennis
by Staff Reports, 26 March 2021
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The United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Thursday they have entered into a “new strategic alliance that formalizes the two organizations’ ongoing collaboration to strengthen and elevate collegiate tennis.”
According to a release, “one of the core tenets to the agreement is the commitment to pilot a new local and regional competition model that will make the American competitive pathway more efficient and effective, connecting American juniors, college and entry-level professional players.”
The new tournaments will be modeled after the 2020 ITA Masters event that was held in San Diego, and will allow regular play between college players and top junior players across the country in locations that can help alleviate the financial burden of extensive travel. Along with providing college players with high-level competition, the events will expose junior players to more college coaches across all divisions.
Another area of emphasis in the USTA-ITA partnership is engaging colleges to open their tennis facilities to the public. College tennis facilities can become a “Community Hub” by hosting tournaments for all ages and abilities, private and group instruction, USTA League play, coach education workshops and community service offerings. Not only can this potentially create a new revenue stream for the schools, it could also help foster a connection between the tennis program and the school’s student body, faculty and staff and local community as a whole. The USTA will assist each of these “Community Hub” locations by integrating various programs and initiatives.
As part of the alliance, the ITA and USTA are committed to raising the standards of coaching with a number of initiatives that include an emphasis on certifying college coaches and current college players who often transition into the coaching and teaching ranks. There will also be an extension of a number of existing coaching education and mentorship programs, with an emphasis on growing the number of women and minority coaches, with funding utilized to drive participation by a diverse array of coaches in the ITA Coaching Education Program, and to help ensure better representation of diverse coaches at the annual ITA convention.
Additional components of the strategic alliance include technology integration, match data sharing and the cross-promotion of key college tennis events and programs throughout the year.
“College tennis is an aspirational dream of so many of our youth players and a connective tissue of the tennis pathway, helping to ensure that players stay in the game for life,” said USTA CEO and Executive Director Mike Dowse, who will join the ITA’s Board of Directors. “This alliance will build on the great work the USTA and the ITA have already been doing to solidify a bright future for all of those who go on to play at the collegiate level.”
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