USTA Launches Comprehensive Coaching Program to Protect Players
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Wednesday the launch of its first comprehensive coaching program. This initiative comes just over a year after an external review of the USTA’s protection system offered recommendations to improve player safety and prevent abuse, including sexual harassment.Craig Morris, CEO of the USTA’s new Coaching initiative, explained in a video interview from Florida that the USTA will ensure that all certified coaches are Safe Play approved. This involves criminal background checks and training to identify, respond to, and prevent inappropriate behavior. Currently, the USTA estimates that there are between 25,000 and 30,000 coaches in the United States. The organization seeks to increase this number to between 75,000 and 100,000. This program is aimed at coaches of all levels, from parents teaching their children to professional coaches working with athletes at events like the US Open, which begins on August 24th. The USTA’s goal is for 35 million people to play tennis in the United States by 2035.“At the end of the day, we have to create safe environments for all our players”
Craig Morris, CEO of the new USTA Coaching initiative
Morris added that investing in the protection of the training system is fundamental for American tennis. “For the first time in our history, we are going to do it,” he stated. In June 2024, a 62-page report presented to the USTA board of directors included 19 specific recommendations to “increase player safety.”“USTA has never been in the coaching business. We are probably the last major tennis federation in the world that doesn’t. And it’s our responsibility… This is recruitment, marketing, benefits, services, education, certification. How will the future generation of coaches be? We have to start having high school and college students see this as a career.”
Craig Morris, CEO of the new USTA Coaching initiative
This report was made public less than two months after a female tennis player received a $9 million settlement from a jury in a Florida federal court. The player accused the USTA of failing to protect her from a coach who, she said, sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was a teenager. The USTA has also been sued in four other cases related to the sexual abuse of tennis players in the last two decades.
