The United States Tennis Association (USTA) and ClubCorp today announced a strategic alliance that brings together one of the largest tennis operators in the nation and the national governing body for tennis in the United States. Through this alliance, both parties will combine resources to continue growing the sport of tennis, with particular focus on attracting younger players.
Supplementing their current youth offerings, clubs in the ClubCorp family will now receive additional state-of-the-art coaching tools and programming resources from the USTA, including access to USTA’s Net Generation and adult suite of programs and apps.
Net Generation is the USTA’s youth tennis brand designed to get more kids ages 5-to-18 playing the sport. Through a smartphone app, coaches and players can connect on practice activities, feedback and skill assessments at the click of a button. Coaches also gain access to USTA coaching curriculums, which include video lesson plans and exercises, to bolster their lesson plans.
“We’ve been focused on growing tennis at the grassroots level for many years. Aligning with ClubCorp will enhance our efforts, allowing us access to new audiences within the club and leisure network that may not have previously participated in tennis programming,” said Gordon Smith, USTA Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director. “ClubCorp hosts an impressive network of clubs and coaches to help bring this to life.”
“We are extremely proud to be working directly with the USTA on very important tennis initiatives,” said David Pillsbury, ClubCorp CEO. “Onboarding every club with Net Generation will allow us to enhance our tennis programming, grow the game and, ultimately, add more value for our members. We also very much look forward to working alongside the USTA to develop and deliver educational pathways that help our tennis coaches and professionals gain the necessary skills for professional growth and career advancement.”
ClubCorp’s portfolio of over 200 golf and country clubs, city clubs, sports clubs and stadium clubs throughout the U.S. includes nearly 950 tennis courts and a wide range of full-service tennis programs that offer teaching, clinics, junior instruction, tennis associations and leagues. In addition, many of the clubs serve as host sites to local, regional and national competitions and league championships.
As part of this new partnership with the USTA, ClubCorp tennis professionals will engage in and support the USTA’s Net Generation youth brand by registering, creating a coaching profile and becoming SafePlay compliant to help parents find a safe, high-quality tennis coach for their children.
“Through Net Generation we are committed to providing coaches with an array of industry-leading resources,” said Craig Morris, USTA Chief Executive, Community Tennis. “Curriculum, linked to the Net Generation app, will support local coaches as they strive to deliver a fantastic on-court experience for kids nationwide. We are excited that ClubCorp has adopted Net Generation for their youth programming and look forward to a successful partnership.”
The USTA and ClubCorp will also collaborate on ways to attract even more adult players to the sport through a range of new competitive and social leagues, tournaments, and team events, and by piloting new initiatives combining fitness and tennis programming.
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
About ClubCorp: Since its founding in 1957, Dallas-based ClubCorp has operated with the central purpose of Building Relationships and Enriching Lives®. ClubCorp is a leading owner-operator of private golf and country clubs and city business clubs in North America. ClubCorp owns or operates a portfolio of over 200 golf and country clubs, city clubs, sports clubs, and alumni clubs in 27 states, the District of Columbia and two foreign countries that serve over 430,000 members, with approximately 20,000 peak-season employees. ClubCorp properties include: Firestone Country Club (Akron, Ohio); Mission Hills Country Club (Rancho Mirage, California); The Woodlands Country Club (The Woodlands, Texas); Capital Club Beijing; and The Metropolitan in Chicago. You can find ClubCorp on Facebook at facebook.com/clubcorp and on Twitter at @ClubCorp.
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