When I posted Scott Price's article on the USTA's role in player development, I didn't have sufficient time to digest all it said, as well as the other discussions we had about the subject. It's a very complex subject, but the sentences that stand out the most to me are these:
But shoved along now by the momentum of his own hype, USTA chief executive Arlen Kantarian ignores the central historic fact of American tennis: No Open era Hall of Famer arose from a centralized bureaucracy. The modern game has been built on developmental anomalies like Pete Sampras and the Williams sisters, on self-promoting zealots like Macci, and parents will continue to trust those teachers with their little stars -- and resent the USTA for not financing them.
So do we just wash our hands of the whole process? Chalk up the budget of High Performance as a waste of money and the new Evert initiative as the latest reactionary response to the "do something" clamor arising from an unfortunate Wimbledon?
Not me. I think there is room for improvements that can make a difference. If you are reading this and you've had a son or daughter in junior tennis, play or haved played junior or college tennis yourself, have volunteered for your section or a tournament, you've seen enough to know what those things might be. I don't care if you post anonymously or spend the USTA's money. Tell me what you would do if you were responsible for player development in the United States. I'll start.
The first thing I would do:
Invite the singles winners of the USTA National Championships (this would be a maximum of 32 players, realistically it will be fewer) to a high performance camp at Carson, the National Tennis Center or Key Biscayne, all expenses paid. The player would have his or her choice of several possible dates, so it can be scheduled around school.
The second thing I would do:
Send an employee to meet the coach or coaches of these winners at their clubs or academies, and ask how the USTA could help them.
In order to keep this post near the top of the blog, I'll be changing the posting date to the current day for the first few days of this week. Hope it doesn't confuse any of you using FeedBlitz.