USTA Presidential Task Force on Tennis and Higher Education convenes during US Open

Task Force
Members of the USTA Presidential Task Force on Tennis and Higher Education gather inside
Arthur Ashe Stadium following their meeting in Manhattan on Sunday, September 4th.

USTA Presidential Task Force on Tennis and Higher Education convenes during US Open

NEW YORK – While the world's best tennis players competed at the US Open on Sunday, ITA Executive Director David Benjamin joined NCAA President Mark Emmert, US Department of Education senior staff member David Whitman, and other leaders from the tennis and education communities for a meeting of the USTA Presidential Task Force on Tennis and Higher Education.

The Task Force has the mission of promoting the importance and value of obtaining a college education to every American child, with tennis serving as the sport of opportunity to achieve that goal. Tennis instills confidence, character, sportsmanship and teamwork, which are important skills on a court, in a classroom and throughout life.

At the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, members of the Task Force discussed developing an educational pathway to help guide children from 10 and Under Tennis through college. Several new projects were also introduced as possibilities that would further promote higher education through tennis.

 

The Task Force was established in January under the dynamic leadership of USTA Chairman of the Board and President Jon Vegosen, who has championed tennis as the sport of opportunity.

 

"We could put in place a player development system that creates not only champions on the court, but also champions in life," said Vegosen. "In short, if we were to develop people through tennis, we would inevitably promote and develop the growth of tennis itself."

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Pictured from left to right in the above photo are: Tom Jacobs – Managing Director, Administration and Business Affairs, USTA Player Development; Karin Buchholz – USTA Director of Community Outreach and Education; Amy Perko – Exec. Director of Knight Commission and member of the Task Force; Chuck Ambrose – President of University of Central Missouri and member of the Task Force; Judy Levering – ­ former USTA President and member of the Task Force; Mark Emmert – President of NCAA; Jon Vegosen – Chairman of the Board and President, USTA; David Dinkins – former Mayor of New York and Honorary Chair of the Task Force; David Benjamin – Executive Director of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and Chair of the Task Force; Tiina Smith – Vice Chair of the Task Force; David Whitman – Senior Writer, U.S. Department of Education; Walter Massey – President of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and member of the Task Force; John Fry – President of Drexel University and member of the Task Force; Tim Russell – Professor of Music at Arizona State University and member of the Task Force.
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