USTA Now WTT Part Owners

 

From the USTA:

NEW YORK — On the same day that the United States entered into a new era of leadership with Barack Obama officially sworn in as the 44th president, another smaller partnership was created to help grow the sport of tennis.

At Gabriel’s Bar and Restaurant in Manhattan on Tuesday, Jan. 20, the USTA and Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League, with its co-founder Billie Jean King, announced their new relationship. The USTA will become a 25-percent owner of the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League, which just completed its 33rd season in 2008.

The new partnership will work to continue to grow and develop more tennis players, and it touches on every level of the game, from the professional ranks to player development to local communities.

“We hope that we can truly be a great partner with the USTA,” King said. “It is a special day for me in many ways, with the inauguration, also, to announce this partnership with the USTA.”

For the USTA, the partnership will help expand the Junior Team Tennis program, a recreational tennis league for children from ages six to 18 that was created in 1991. It allows children to play tennis on teams with others of the same age and skill levels, with more than 80,000 participants across the country. For children under 10, the USTA QuickStart format is used.

“I am extremely proud and pleased to announce that the USTA is investing in World TeamTennis. We will be partners going forward. It is a natural fit for us,” said Lucy S. Garvin, Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA. “We have a strong emphasis on Junior Team Tennis and team tennis overall, on the college level and throughout the organization.”

“Recently our Board made that decision, and we are just thrilled,” she added of the new partnership. “Billie is the icon and icons. It is an honor to work with her and Ilana (Kloss, World TeamTennis CEO/Commissioner).”

The Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League has 11 teams, and it is a professional co-ed league based on equality, with a level playing field for men and women. Each team has two men and two women (as well as a coach), with everyone working together to contribute to a team victory. The 2009 season will be played July 2-26, followed by the Championship Weekend.

In each of the 11 cities where the pro leagues are located, the USTA’s 17 sections and World TeamTennis will work together to expand QuickStart programs as well as Junior Team Tennis to help more children start playing the game. The children in Junior Team Tennis leagues will have opportunities to interact with the professionals and to play some of their championship matches on the same courts.

In addition, this year the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League Championship Team and Award winners will be recognized at the 2009 US Open.

“It is really about unity and about all of us helping each other and being on the same page. There is one goal, and that is to get more people playing,” King said. “We have different ways of helping this sport. World TeamTennis has always been a big believer in equality and having a level playing field. It is a fantastic day for us, for our owners, our pro cities, for the people who play in campus (team) tennis.

“I think the USTA has really been trying to weave and really help create something that is very special, getting everyone in the tennis world together, and we are a part of that. Only a part, but hopefully we can help in many ways,” she added.

Legends, including King herself, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Tracy Austin, have played World TeamTennis. Current professionals also have played, including Serena and Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, as well as up-and-coming players – something the new partnership will aid, as well.

“We have been trying to make this happen for a long time, and we have worked closely with the USTA for many years, so to formalize the partnership and to actually be on the inside means a lot to us,” Kloss said. “The World TeamTennis format, we really believe that it is one of the building blocks to help grow tennis in America. I think World TeamTennis is one of the few entities that really has a lot of touch points, not just on the grassroots level but all the way up to professional tennis. We really are going to try to leverage the relationships in our pro league team markets and help make an impact.

“It is our goal to use the pro team franchises and the sections to engage kids and get them on teams. Community tennis has a huge push on QuickStart and Junior Team Tennis, so I think that will be a huge focus for us,” she added.

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