The USTA introduced a structural shake-up.
Martin Blackman has resigned his present submit as Basic Supervisor of Participant Improvement efficient immediately.
Blackman, who succeeded Patrick McEnroe as USTA head of participant growth in April, 2015, has agreed to remain on as a particular advisor by way of the tip of the yr to make sure a clean transition.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve American tennis on this position for the final ten years and I’m grateful to the USTA for giving me that chance,” Blackman stated in an announcement. “The work that our Participant Improvement group has achieved, in partnership with the personal sector and the USTA Sections, has been a labor of affection.
“I’m proud that we have been capable of construct a pathway that has supported the resurgence of American tennis, the credit score for which matches firstly to our wonderful gamers, and the groups surrounding them, whose dedication and work ethic have pushed this development and success. The chance now exists to align our wonderful development on the grassroots degree with our success on the prime of the skilled recreation and broaden the pathway for juniors of all ranges, and to amplify that development and growth with the USTA’s elevated emphasis on teaching.
“I want the USTA, my wonderful Participant Improvement group and all of my colleagues within the personal sector and Sections the most effective as they develop and promote the game that all of us love.”
Blackman’s departure comes after the USTA opted to make “organizational adjustments” and creates a gap for a brand new chief.
The Tennis Affiliation stated this reorganization is designed to “higher help gamers in any respect ranges of their aggressive pathway with Participant Improvement, Professional Circuit, Workforce Occasions, Collegiate and Junior Competitors groups now mixed right into a single cohesive division.
“The intent is to enhance inner collaboration and allow the USTA to strategically direct assets the place they’re wanted most for the good thing about essentially the most aggressive junior {and professional} gamers.”
The USTA can also be creating a brand new, extra expansive place to guide the newly reworked division. A seek for this chief will start quickly.
Kent Kinnear and Kathy Rinaldi will proceed to guide males’s and girls’s tennis, respectively, below the management of this new place, the USTA introduced. Bob Bryan is U.S. Davis Cup captain and Lindsay Davenport heads the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup squad. Workforce USA will play for each the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup championships subsequent month in Malaga, Spain.
Together with structural adjustments, the USTA’s just lately introduced Participant Improvement Advisory Council — a powerhouse group of present and former gamers, dad and mom, coaches, USTA Part leaders, and event operators — will assist information the group’s path ahead.
“The group stays within the early phases of its work and is predicted to offer suggestions for the way the USTA can additional improve its help for high-performance American gamers later this yr,” the USTA introduced.
