The USTA announced the latest step in its
expanded efforts to develop future American
tennis champions when it named the first two
USTA Certified Regional Training Centers -- The
Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington,
D.C., and The Racquet Club of the South in
Atlanta.



The USTA Certified Regional Training Centers
will expand the USTA Player Development
program’s reach throughout the country by
partnering with academies, clubs and tennis
centers that have a proven record of identifying
and developing tennis players.



The USTA plans to name approximately a dozen
Certified Regional Training Centers during the
next five years.



“This is the start of the USTA’s new philosophy
regarding player development,” said Gordon
Smith, Executive Director, USTA. “We will
continue to reach out to new partners throughout
the country that share a similar vision – all
with the goal of creating future American tennis
champions.”



In addition to continuing their already existing
programs, the USTA Certified Regional Training
Centers will now also host USTA training camps
for players in their region ages 10-14. These
players will be selected in conjunction with the
USTA national coaching staff and their
respective USTA Section Coaches Commission. The
Centers also will help identify talent in
players as young as 6-years-old, run QuickStart*
tennis programs and host QuickStart tournaments
for players 8-and-under and 10-and-under.



The camps will be staffed by the top coaches at
the USTA Certified Regional Training Centers
with assistance from the USTA national coaching
staff. The coaches at the USTA Certified
Regional Training Centers also will serve as an
extension of the USTA Coaching Education program
by working with and training the top coaches in
their region and respective USTA Section.
Additionally, the coaches will attend training
sessions at the USTA National Training Center in
Boca Raton, Fla.



“We have built a coaching philosophy among our
national coaching staff that we are eager to
share with the coaches working in the private
sector,” said Patrick McEnroe, General Manager,
USTA Player Development. “At the same time,
through our partnerships with these facilities,
we can learn from the personal coaches in the
field who are developing our best young talent.
We feel strongly that together we can work
towards our common goal – developing American
champions.”



The Junior Tennis Champions Center is located on
11 acres of parkland in College Park, Md. The
facility features 27 courts, 12 indoor/climate
controlled, 8 har-tru clay courts (4 indoor/4
outdoor) and the only two Roland Garros-style
red clay courts in the Mid-Atlantic. Ray Benton
is the ceo. Frank Salazar, Vesa Ponkka and Misha
Kousznetsov are the coaches.



The Racquet Club of the South is one of the
largest tennis facilities in the Southeast. The
facility has 28 courts, with 26 lit, 8
indoor/climate controlled, 4 har-tru clay courts
and 16 hard courts, and is the home of the RCA
Tennis Academy. Steve Gareleck, Brian DeVilliers
and Grant Stafford comprise the management team
at the facility.



The new USTA Player Development unit has been
created to identify and develop the next
generation of American champions by surrounding
the top junior players and young pros with the
resources, facilities and coaching they need to
reach their maximum potential.