Topic
- Education
- Certification
- Clothing Program
- Friend at Court
Online Courses
Over the next two years, we will be replacing traditional USTA
in-person certification schools with online education modules. We have
partnered with the USTA Learning and Development Department and E-Path to
develop these online modules, which will be rolled out as they are completed.
In the past, the USTA National and Sectional TEs held 1-2 day in
person training schools. The online modules are more convenient, allowing
Officials to complete them at any time and at their own pace. They are
cost effective for both the Sections and the Official. In addition, the
teachings are consistent regardless of where the Officials are located.
By delivering the education via online, the USTA Sections can now
use the resources that were allotted to National Schools to conduct specialized
and localized officiating training. In-person training can focus on
putting Officials in the field and enhancing their skills (more on that
below).
The modules being developed and their projected completion dates
are: 
*These dates are subject to change
In-Person Sectional Training
By moving the initial training to more robust and consistent
online modules, we can now take the in-person training to a new level. The new
approach will allow the Sections to maximize the funds allocated to training
Officials by holding training workshops for specific disciplines.
Based on the officiating training needs of the Section, they will have the
power to decide when, where and for which discipline to hold trainings in.
The in-person training workshops are being developed with the help
of the USTA Learning and Leadership Development Staff and Subject Matter
Experts for each officiating discipline. The USTA will provide training
materials for each course. Through an application process we will identify,
train and approve Officials to teach specific workshops across the
country. By the end of the process, we will have a network of trainers that
will be locally available to all Sections.
In-Person National Training
The USTA Officiating Department will be moving to the Home of
American Tennis in 2016. We will leverage the capability of the facility by
developing National Level training with the launch of the USTA Officiating
Academy at the Lake Nona Facility. Officials looking to advance to the
highest levels of tennis will be invited to attend multi-day trainings where
they will learn from the best Officials in the world in a state of the art
facility. The Sectional Trainings being held around the country will help
feed promising Officials to these National trainings. In return, these
Officials will become the next generation of tennis Officials.
In an effort to have a National Standard, USTA Officiating is
focusing more time on the requirements a person must complete before becoming a
Certified Official. This will ensure consistency and more than adequate
training before a provisional Official goes on court. This will help
Sections focus further training on these Officials as they progress in their
disciplines. The three basic requirements to become an Official have been
slightly modified to reflect the new online modules:
1. Be a USTA
Member.
2. Complete
the online Safe Play Training, which includes passing a criminal background
check.
3. Complete
the Introduction to Officiating, Rules and Regulations modules, and Roving
Umpire 1 (once available) to complete the testing requirement for Provisional
Certification.
As we previously mentioned the online modules will be available in
January. Until they are launched, we ask that you have any of your new recruits
go through the SafePlay Training and Background Screening, which in some cases
can take 10-business days to complete. The USTA Officiating Website will
have the new 2016 Friend at Court as well as supplemental
documents for all Officials to get acquainted with the rules prior to
completing the courses.
In order to maintain their certification, all Certified Officials
will be required to complete the following courses by October 1, 2016:
- Introduction to Officiating
- Rules and Regulations 1
- Rules and Regulations 2
- Rules and Regulations 3
- Roving Umpire 1
The Sectional Chairpersons will be given access to the names of
all Officials who have completed the online modules. We are in the
process of determining how those records are transferred into the individual
NUCULA accounts so that Sectional and District Chairpersons can also view the
information in NUCULA during the re-certification period.
We are about to launch the USTA Umpire Clothing Program next week.
This has been a long process, and we appreciate your patience as we
worked out all the details. We are confident that the Officials will be
happy with the items we have selected, the website created, and the high
customer service level S&H provides. In preparation for the launch, we have
also created a clothing guide that includes pricing, size chart, and any
additional information about each item. Click here to view the clothing
guide.
As we mentioned before, the roll-out will be tiered. We have
prioritized the Pro Circuit Officials working in January as the first group to
receive the link for the Clothing Program Website. Those Officials will
have one week to place their order before the rest of the USTA Certified
Officials receive the link. This will ensure that they will receive their
uniform before their first assignment in January. The clothing information and
link will then be sent to all Certified Officials on December 16th.
We anticipate the Friend at Court to be mailed to all Certified
Officials at the end of the month. In preparation for this, we will be
pulling the mailing list from NUCULA on December 15th. Please
remind all the Officials in your Section to make sure their mailing address is
correctly displayed in NUCULA. Also, remind them that if they are listed as
uncertified, they will not receive the 2016 Friend at Court. We
appreciate your help in coordinating the mailing.
As you know, the Friend at Court has been
revamped. Some comments, the majority of Regulation VII, and ITA
Regulations have been moved online and will be available on the Rules page of
the usta.com/officiating website
or USTA resources page at http://resources.usta.com/category/usta-rules--regulations .
Please direct your
questions to Kevin Foster kevtennis@aol.com
