USTA Launches Comprehensive Coaching Program to Prioritize Safety in Tennis
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 safeguarding system, which offered recommendations to improve the protection of players against abuse, including sexual misconduct.Miller, in a video interview from Florida, explained that the USTA will now ensure that all certified coaches are Safe Play approved. This includes criminal background checks and training to identify, respond to, and prevent inappropriate behavior. The USTA estimates that there are currently between 25,000 and 30,000 coaches in the United States. The sports organization seeks to increase this number to between 75,000 and 100,000. This program will include everyone from parents teaching their children to professional coaches working with athletes at the US Open, the USTA’s flagship event that begins on August 24. This effort is tied to the organization’s goal of having 35 million people playing tennis in the United States by 2035.“At the end of the day, we have to create safe environments for all our players.”
Craig Miller, CEO of the new USTA Coaching initiative
Miller added: “This is fundamental for American tennis. To protect this sport, the USTA has to invest in protecting the sport’s delivery system. And for the first time in our history, we are going to do it.” In June 2024, a 62-page report presented to the USTA Board of Directors included 19 specific recommendations to “increase player safety.” The report was made public less than two months after a female tennis player was awarded $9 million in damages by a jury in a Florida federal court. The tennis 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 was also accused in four other lawsuits related to the sexual abuse of tennis players in the last two decades.“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 next generation of coaches be? We have to start making high school and college students consider this as a career.”
Craig Miller, CEO of USTA’s new Coaching initiative
