By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, May 21, 2024
 
The USTA and ITA are strengthening—and lengthening—their partnership.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association and the USTA announced an expanded five-year agreement between the national governing body of tennis and the national governing body of college tennis.

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The new agreement will "focus on coaching education, community usage of college facilities and technology integration, amongst other initiatives," the organizations announced.


“College tennis is a critical part of the player pathway as it not only serves as the aspirational dream of thousands of youth tennis players, but also plays a pivotal role in helping to ensure players stay in the game for life,” said Craig Morris, Chief Executive, Community Tennis, USTA. “The USTA is proud to continue our impactful work alongside the ITA to enhance the college tennis experience as part of our mission to grow the sport of tennis.”

“Given the complex, challenging, and ever-changing arena of college athletics, the world of higher education, and the evolution of the global tennis ecosystem, the ever-growing partnership between the ITA and the USTA creates an important and very solid foundation for the success of our sport moving forward,” said ITA President and Chief Executive Officer of the ITA, Dr. Timothy Russell. “Speaking personally, and on behalf of our Association, our members and fans of college tennis, I want to applaud and thank the leadership team of the USTA for their wide-reaching efforts in advancing college tennis. The ITA is committed to growing the game together with the USTA.”

One of the key pillars of the agreement is to build upon the organizations’ ongoing work to improve coaching education and the recruitment of future coaches.

This includes support of the ITA’s Center for Coach Education, which is an evolving online resource and series of in-person programs for active college coaches and prospective college coaches. Additionally, the ITA will work with the USTA to identify candidates to join the coaching pathway, with a particular emphasis on female and minority coaches.

American stars, including Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, John Isner, Danielle Collins, Ben Shelton, Peyton Stearns and Marcos Giron, to name a few, all played college tennis.

Photo credit: Mike Lawrence/USTA