Tennis now| @tennis_now | Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Image source: Jennifer Pottheiser/USTA
ATA and USTA have announced a shared mission to promote participation in tennis.
The USTA and the American Tennis Association have announced a new plan that reflects their shared mission of developing participation, retention and leadership opportunities in different communities of tennis.
“The foundations of this new program include “the addition of a mentoring program for mentoring programs, a mentoring program that is a pipeline for coaching and tennis careers and inspire future generations to participate in the sport.” ”
ATA is the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States, founded by a group of African-American businessmen, university professors and doctors in 1916 in response to the exclusion of black players from the American Lawn Tennis Association (UST), a precursor of the USTA (USTA) who participated with white players.
Today, ATA continues to develop and promote opportunities through tennis in different communities.
Through this collaboration, USTA and ATA will create a new series of activities called “Prelude to ATA Nationals” that aims to enhance player retention and expand competitive opportunities for juniors throughout the year. The series is open to everyone and launched in Dallas last weekend and is scheduled to continue in Washington, D.C. (May 23-25), Atlanta (June 6-8) and Houston (June 28-29).
Each event will host adult socializing, community match days, tournament competitions, and climaxes in the ATA National Championships. The ATA National Championship is a historic tennis tournament that brings hundreds of players of all ages, backgrounds and races to compete on the national stage. The tournament also includes online events, education conferences and ACE Awards, which recognize that individuals and organizations have made significant contributions to ensuring that all people can enter tennis.
The 2025 ATA National Championship will be held on the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida from July 28 to August 3.
