USPTA’s Junior Circuit Offers Tennis Competition for Novice Juniors
May 30, 2008
With summer right around the corner, playing tennis is a great way for older children to have fun and stay active. They may play with friends or family, find a tennis camp or lesson program or join a general sports camp that includes tennis. But sometimes just playing for fun or taking lessons is not enough. Children may want to compete with their peers and have an event to look forward to. If they have not played tournaments before, it is important to find a format that will meet their needs as novice competitors.
The USPTA Junior Circuit™ provides the perfect opportunity. It is a series of tournaments created to introduce less experienced junior players, ages 10 to 18, to competition and allow them to prepare for higher-level tournament play. The junior circuit introduces tennis and healthy competition to thousands of young players who can play the sport their entire lifetime.
In addition, this year it is tied into Tennis — for the health of it!SM, the USPTA’s newest initiative, which strives to make the general public aware of the tremendous health, fitness and psychological benefits of tennis and encourage people to get out and play the sport as a part of their regular fitness regimen. The USPTA strives to encourage and enable kids across the nation and world to live a healthy lifestyle through the sport of tennis. Also, the USPTA and its members are the delivery force through which the public can receive these benefits through lessons and other tennis activities.
The majority of local or regional tournaments are typically designed for players with competitive experience, and they draw the area’s top tennis athletes. Being matched against one of these players may make for a negative experience for a novice. Events like the USPTA Junior Circuit help ensure a positive experience. In addition to promoting and increasing local tennis activity, the program’s flexibility places no requirements or restrictions on tennis teachers or on the beginner competitor and helps build positive tennis experiences for junior players and enthusiasm for the sport throughout the community.