News

Hilton Head Island, SC — In 2010, Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) announced a first in coach education for USA tennis teaching professionals and coaches. The next phase of PTR’s new training program – PTR Master of Tennis – Junior Development – with external assessment of coach skills, knowledge and abilities, is scheduled to begin in November 2011.

The PTR Master of Tennis – Junior Development Performance qualification will match the National Standards for Sports Coaches (NSSC) at the highest level – Level 5. These Standards, at different levels, are used by many other sports and education bodies in the USA and are recognized and endorsed by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

The Master of Tennis – Junior Development program is open to PTR members who hold a Professional rating, and is for those who are working with juniors age 4-16. Applications are being accepted through October 15, 2011.

“I am excited to announce the next phase of the PTR Education and Certification Pathway program,” said PTR CEO Dan Santorum. “It is based on a number of courses in a unique mixture of online learning and home study, as well as practical on court learning in small groups of fellow professionals. This means that coaches will benefit both from studying on their own time and at their own pace, as well as from discussing and interacting with their peers on the tennis court. The program can be completed in as few as nine months or can take as long as two years, and the schedule takes into consideration that most participants work full time.”

The program leader is coach education expert, Anne Pankhurst, who previously worked in this capacity for both the USTA and LTA. The online learning will be available on easily accessible, dedicated pages on the PTR/Tennis LMS website. Each coach will have a personal access code, so that work can be stored for easy reference at any time. For the on court sections of the course, PTR has arranged a number of programs around the country – Orlando, San Diego, New York and Hilton Head Island.

Assessment will be ongoing; every course must be passed successfully in order to complete the program and earn the qualification. Each course will consist of between 16 to 20 PTR Professional rated members. Those who successfully complete the program will earn the rating of PTR Master of Tennis – Junior Development.

There are specific requirements to apply and to be accepted for this prestigious qualification. Please visit www.ptrtennis.org for more information.

“This qualification program, the content of which is linked to the ITF Level 3 Course, will help coaches gain the knowledge and skills to be the best they can be and to make a world of difference in the progress of young players especially to 10 and under,” said Santorum.

PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals with 14,000 members in 121 countries. It has the greatest percentage of multicultural and women members of any such organization. PTR is dedicated to educating, certifying and servicing tennis teachers and coaches around the world in order to grow the game.