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, protecting them from abuse such as sexual misconduct.Morris explained that the USTA will ensure that all certified coaches are Safe Play approved. This involves completing a criminal background check and demonstrating the ability 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 organization seeks to increase this number to between 75,000 and 100,000. This initiative includes coaches of all levels, 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 linked to the USTA’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,” declared Craig Morris, CEO of the new USTA Coaching initiative, in a video interview from Florida.
Craig Morris, CEO of the USTA Coaching initiative
Morris added: “This is fundamental for tennis in the United States. For the protection of this sport, the USTA has to invest in the protection of the sport’s delivery system. And for the first time in our history, we are going to do that.” 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 jury in a Florida federal court awarded $9 million in damages to a tennis player. 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 sexual abuse of tennis players in the last two decades.“The USTA has never been in the coaching business. We are probably the last major tennis federation in the world that doesn’t do it. 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 see this as a career,” said Morris.
Craig Morris, CEO of the USTA Coaching initiative
