News

The 10th anniversary edition of the IART training symposium for racquet technicians will be held at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois September 23rd through September 27th. The event has many new speakers and topics this year including insiders from Wilson Racquet Sports who are based in the Chicago area. The Friday night kick-off party will be held at the Wilson Global Headquarters followed with a day trip on Saturday to Midtown Athletic Club for some tennis, platform tennis and lunch for everyone.

The training begins on Sunday with classroom style presentations followed with a full day of hands-on stringing classes on Monday. Wilson will also be conducting group tours of their innovation center on Monday and the day concludes with round table discussions from the sponsors. Former world #4 Robin Soderling will be the featured round table speaker on Monday night at 7 p.m. Soderling’s new company, RS Tennis, will have a booth at the conference to showcase their new line of tennis products and there are tentative plans to have Robin join the group Saturday on court. The training concludes on Tuesday with a full day of comprehensive racquet customization led by Wilson’s Ron Rocchi followed by a wrap-up Q&A session with the group.

USPTA & PTR members will receive education credits for attending the entire conference, giving members a great opportunity to increase their point totals for continuing education. Day passes have been added to the 2016 schedule for Sunday, Monday & Tuesday to accommodate people in the local and surrounding areas, and in particular, to provide an opportunity for local teaching pros who can’t commit to the entire conference, but may be able to free up some time to attend on a day of their choice.

For complete details on the schedule, speakers and topics and to register please go to the event website at iartsymposium.com or call IART Executive Director Tim Strawn at 540-632-1148.