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Your Monthly News & Updates
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What's new with USTA Kenucky!!
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
All I can say is Wow. It has been an incredible thirty days since my last newsletter. The excitement of the US Open, the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio combined with all of the events here in Kentucky has been amazing. One of those events was the free Wheelchair Tennis Coaches Clinic held in Louisville at Berrytown Recreation Center, the home of Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation. This wonderful event was a collaborative effort between the Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation and USTA Kentucky utilizing a grant from USTA Southern. There were over thirty participants in attendance with the clinics being led by Harlon Matthews, Meg Peavy and David Hartsek. These athletes are truly inspiring and impressive! The women's tennis team from the University of Louisville participated and thoroughly enjoyed learning tennis all over again via a wheelchair. I am so proud of the participants, volunteers and instructors. These events renew my soul and reaffirm my love for the game of tennis.
Since becoming USTA KY President, the staff and I have received numerous emails (Please keep them coming!) and had conversations with players around the state who have misconceptions regarding what we do and who we are. This is very understandable as USTA KY is under the umbrella of the very large and complex USTA Southern Section and USTA National organizational structure. Therefore, listed below are a few "Myth Busters" about our sport and our structure. I hope this will clarify some of the intricacies of our organization and help with understanding how we accomplish all we do to grow the game we all love.
MYTH BUSTERS
- Tennis is an expensive/kids sport: The fact is tennis is one of the least expensive sports and can be played by all for a lifetime. The actual cost to begin tennis is $16.00. Please read this article The most expensive sports your kids will quit.
- A Community Tennis Association is a For-Profit business: ALL USTA registered Community Tennis Associations are Not For Profit organizations, volunteer based and support or provide programs that promote and develop the growth of tennis. While CTA's may differ in their service delivery, the 25 Kentucky CTA's are essential to keeping tennis thriving in our state.
- Junior Team Tennis is for beginner level players: JTT has gotten this reputation because many pro's and parents feel tournament play is where kids belong once they have reached a certain level. And while tournaments do provide kids with a great opportunity for competition, Junior Team Tennis also provides them strong competition with the advantages of a team concept, something they will be involved in if they play High School, college tennis or Adult League tennis. Those who have ever attended JTT Sectionals have experienced and been exposed to the high quality of tennis as some of the best players in the South participate. For those of you concerned about ranking points, JTT State and Sectional Tournaments do provide ranking points for kids.
- USTA Membership Is A Barrier: In the last two years, membership has become a non-factor. USTA has opened the gates to non-members playing in certain leagues. Players no longer have to hold an active USTA membership to play in Junior Team Tennis non-advancing leagues and certain tournaments also allow non members to participate.
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USTA Membership and Adult League Fees Pay For All USTA Tennis Programming: This is perhaps one of the most widely held myths. The majority of the funding for our programming is generated by the US OPEN profits. These revenues are distributed by USTA National to each of the 17 state sections. Each section determines how these monies are distributed to the individual states. Kentucky is in the Southern Section which distributes partially via a performance based grant process. This money along with your involvement allows Kentucky to run existing programming, and develop new programming to meet your tennis needs!
These are the answers to a few of the questions, we at USTA Kentucky have been asked. I hope this brings some clarity and please do not hesitate to ask any questions you have regarding tennis in Kentucky. It is through the dialogue of our customers that we learn, adapt, grow and promote tennis across the state of Kentucky.
Dell Kelly
President
USTA Kentucky
Tennis...It All Matters!
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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2016 USTA KENTUCKY AWARD WINNERS!
Click
here for a full list of well deserving recipients!
(James MacFarlane - Official of the Year pictured)
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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP COMING IN OCTOBER
Community Development Workshop is coming in October!
Community Tennis Associations save the date for the Kentucky Community Development Workshop October 21st and 22nd at the Marriott Louisville East. The Annual Kentucky Awards Luncheon will be held the same day. More details to come soon!
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PLAY IT FORWARD GRANT
To date, Kentucky had 6 Play It Forward Grant recipients, the most of any of the 9 Southern states in our section. USTA KY staff helped bring 3 of these grants to life and we are willing to do the same with your organization or tennis program. Over $1.2 million has been made available for programs and tournaments focused on innovative ideas and growth based programming. The next deadline is October 31st, 2016. For more details and requirements go to our website,
ustaky.com or contact
[email protected] if you'd like to apply but do not know where to get started.
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BUILD IT FORWARD GRANT OPEN!
USTA Southern has opened registration for grant applications for the Build It Forward initiative. $500K has been made available to build or reconstruct tennis courts. For more details on the grant requirements and for the actual application, please visit
ustaky.com for information. There is no deadline, as funds will be available until exhausted. For additional questions on the grant, please email John Callen at
[email protected].
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WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TRAINING UPDATE
The Wheelchair Tennis Clinic got "rolling" Friday evening on September 9th with 20+ participants learning basic skills and knowledge related to wheelchair tennis.
Click here to read more.
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10 and Under Challenger Series #1 (KY Level 4, Southern Level 5)
September 25, Louisville
Registration Deadline: September 22nd
REGISTER HERE
Top Gun Academy Championships (KY Level 2, Southern Level 3)
September 30-October 2, Louisville
Registration Deadline: September 25th
REGISTER HERE
LTC October Championships (KY Level 4, Southern Level 5)
October 1-2, Louisville
Registration Deadline: September 25th
REGISTER HERE
Click for more information!
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FALL LEAGUES
How about an opportunity for some "cooler weather" tennis!!!! This, the most beautiful time of year; if you like football, changing seasons, colorful leaves, bonfires, and changing out your seasonal clothes!! Seriously, some of our local leagues have offered their Fall League for several years now with great success. If your area does not currently offer this league, and you have interest in extending your outdoor playing opportunity, please contact either your Local League Coordinator or Kathy Klein at [email protected]. We can work to see how we can offer this league in your area.
Current league registration opportunities for this league include:
Lexington - registration is open through October 4th - match play begins October 14th
Louisville - registration opens September 16th thru 30th - match play begins October 15th
Paducah - registration opens September 25th - match play begins end of October
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TRI-LEVEL AND MIXED DOUBLES
CHAMPIONSHIPS!
Check out the Tri-Level Championship
here!
Check out the Mixed Doubles Championship
here!
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FUNDRAISER HONORING MURHL SEARCY AND SUPPORTING RAISE A RACQUET!
Over $3,000 was raised at the Audubon Country Club o
n Sunday, August 28th.
Audubon Country Club hosted a fundraising event for Raise A Racquet in honor of the late tennis professional, Murhl Searcy. It was a full day of tennis with Round Robin for both Men and Women going on throughout the day and a pro exhibition in the evening. What a tremendous success!
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E-NEWS!
Do you have Community Tennis News you would like to share? If so, please email
Stacey Croley with the information no later than the first day of each month, for inclusion in that's month's E-News.
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SHOP AT KROGER - SUPPORT RAISE A RACQUET FOUNDATION
It's time to re-register your Kroger card and select Raise a Racquet as your charity of choice!!!
Everyone has to re-register their card in August even if you have already selected Raise a Racquet!
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YOUR LOCAL LEAGUE COORDINATORS
Looking for additional league playing opportunity? How about getting a family member or friend involved in tennis? Click
here for a list of local league coordinators!
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SUPPORT RAISE A RACQUET FOUNDATION
Be sure to check out scholarship and funding opportunities available through USTA Kentucky's endowment fund, Raise a Racquet. Funding is available for all USTA Kentucky Juniors and we are currently accepting grant requests. Click for more information!
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