Starting the New Year

As we begin the New Year, I'd like to take this opportunity to provide some highlights from the association's first year and provide some news on upcoming activities.

The association was launched in March, and ended the year with 143 paid members in 37 states.

Within two weeks, we will conduct another mailing to approximately 10,700 coaches, which will consist of a more complete brochure this time, detailing all of the various benefits of membership. The mailing will also include a brochure for our first coaches conference, which will be held February 17-18 in the Atlanta area. Details on the workshop are available on the front page of the Web site.

Since we launched, we have contacted several members of the USTA Player Development; sent e-mails to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association; e-mailed the USPTA and USPTR; contacted the Tennis Industry Association; and sent passwords to top tennis executives as Wilson Racquet Sports.

To date, none have replied!

I imagine it will take 1,000+ members before we start to hear from the industry.

The good news, however, is that "Tennis Industry" magazine asked us to write a feature on high school tennis from the retail side (scheduled for the January issue) with a follow-up article on how the industry can support high school tennis to run later in the year.

We were also contacted by "Tennis" magazine for an article they were doing on female coaches and were mentioned in the article.

Coach Jeff Hoham has agreed to join our advisory board for this upcoming year, and you can read his bio in the "About the USHSTCA" section of the Web site.

Once again, K-Swiss and Wavex racquets will be our sponsors for 2001, thanks to Jim Brown and Zone-In Sports Marketing.

Finally, plans for 2001 include doubling our membership; beginning a "Coach of the Year" award in all 50 states for both boys and girls; and appointing state reps in each state to help provide better national communications among coaches.

Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions you may have, and thanks for your input so far.

Steve Milano
Executive Director