And the ITA National Collegiate Wheelchair Championships
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and the ITA National Collegiate Wheelchair Championships October 16 – 19, 2008 ITA Board of Directors – 2008-09 David A Benjamin, Executive Director Ann Lebedeff, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Jamie Ashworth, Duke University Lin Loring, Indiana University (Ex-Officio) Bobby Bayliss, Univ. of Notre Dame (Ex-Officio) Sheila McInerney, Arizona State University Ron Bohrnstedt, Rollins College Wanda McPhail, Meridian Community College Amine Boustani, Drury University Rick Morris, Chabot College Beverly Buckley, Rollins College Murray Murdoch, Cedarville University (Ex-Officio) Kent DeMars, Univ. of South Carolina (Ex-Officio) Billy Pate, University of Alabama Steve Denton, Texas A&M University Greg Patton, Boise State University Patty Epps, Franklin & Marshall College (Ex-Officio) John Peterson, Tyler Junior College David Fish, Harvard University (Ex-Officio) Bill Richards, Ball State University Paul Gastonguay, Bates College Mark Riley, Kalamazoo College Andy Girard, Carnegie Mellon University Kathy Sell, Princeton University Dee Henry, Biola University Paul Settles, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Nicole Kenneally, University of Colorado Vince Westbrook, University of Tulsa Betsy Kuhle, Western Michigan University MOBILE TENNIS CENTER The Mobile Tennis Center is the world’s largest public tennis facility. Our full-service facility includes over 50 courts, all lighted and hard-court, with a pro shop and professional instruction on site. Visit our site (http://www.mobiletenniscenter.net/) often for the latest information on current and upcoming events. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), a non-profit organization, has been serving the collegiate ten- nis community for the past 52 years. The ITA was founded in 1956 by the late J.D. Morgan, tennis coach and then athletic director at UCLA. Morgan served as the first president of the organization (which was known as the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association until 1992). The ITA has been headed since 1979 by David A Benjamin, Executive Director and CEO, who also served for 26 years as the Director of Tennis and men’s varsity tennis coach of Princeton University, retiring in 2000. The ITA is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at NCAA Divi- sions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College, and over the past three decades has worked hard to achieve its charter goals: “To foster and encourage the playing of intercollegiate tennis in accordance with the highest tradition of sportsmanship and consistent with the general objectives of higher education.” “To develop among the intercollegiate coaches a deeper sense of responsibility in teaching, promoting, maintaining and conducting the game of tennis.” “To educate and serve those individuals and groups who are involved in collegiate tennis: junior and col- lege players, their coaches and parents, and the at-large tennis public.” The ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. Throughout the collegiate tennis season the ITA administers numerous national championships: the D’Novo/ITA Men’s All-American Championships and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships, ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, ITA National Small College Championships presented by the USTA, ITA National Team Indoor Championships and ITA Division III Men’s and Women’s National Team Indoor Championships. The ITA administers 80 Wilson/ITA Regional Championships (for both Division I and Small Colleges) each fall as well as the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, at 26 re- gional sites across the country in July, and circuit-ending ITA National Summer Championships presented by the USTA. The ITA also administers regional and national ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis programs in all divisions. The ITA has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. This awards program includes the ITA All-America Teams, the Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year awards, the ITA National Player of the Year, USTA/ITA Community Service and Campus Recreation Awards for coaches, ITA Collegiate All-Star Team, and the ITA Achievement Award, which honors past participants of collegiate tennis who have achieved excellence in their chosen careers and, in doing so, have made special contributions to society. The ITA, the USTA, NIRSA (the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association), and the WTT (World Team Tennis) have joined forces to provide non-varsity players of the college age the opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of tennis on college campuses through the Tennis On Campus program. The highlight of this program has been the USTA Campus Championships held each spring. This event crowns a national champion for co-ed club and intramural tennis teams. For more information about the ITA and its programs, please feel free to contact the ITA office, which is based in Skillman, New Jersey, at (609) 497-6920 or via e-mail at [email protected]. The official ITA web- site is www.itatennis.com THE USTA AND THE ITA The United States Tennis Association and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association have had a long working relationship in all aspects of collegiate tennis, from tournament sponsorship and officiating to community service and advocacy initiatives and creating recreational tennis opportunities. The USTA sponsored the first intercollegiate men’s tennis championships in 1883 and continued running the event until 1946 when the NCAA began its sponsorship of the event. The USTA became the first organization to sponsor a women’s national collegiate tennis tournament in 1958. As presenting sponsor the USTA helps cover some of the air transportation expenses for the 32 men’s and 32 women’s singles players and doubles teams who earn berths into the ITA National Small College Championships. The USTA also serves as presenting sponsor for the ITA National Summer Championships and the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit. The ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit began in 1993 under the leadership of Lin Loring, the women’s varsity coach at Indiana University. It consists of seven regional circuits held across the country during the month of July. The circuit- ending championships were added to the schedule in 1994. In 1996, the USTA and the ITA created the USTA Summer Collegiate Team, an elite training program that allows the top American collegiate tennis players the opportunity to receive valuable training and compete as amateurs on the men’s and women’s professional circuits during the summer. The ITA, the USTA, National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) and World Team Tennis (WTT) have joined forces to provide non-varsity players of the college age the opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of tennis on college campuses through the “Tennis On Campus” pathway. A highlight of this program has been the USTA Campus Championships held each spring. This event crowns a national champion for co-ed club and intramural tennis teams. The USTA and the ITA work together to promote wheelchair tennis opportunities on college campuses. The USTA helps coordinate the officiating of college tennis tournaments and dual matches. Fourteen years ago, the USTA appointed Jane Goodman, a nationally recognized chair umpire, to serve as Liaison for College Officiating. Goodman has also helped develop a certification system for college officials that all USTA umpires must take in order to officiate college tennis matches. Many ITA rules clinics are annually held throughout the country for USTA officials since the inception of Goodman’s programs. She also sits on the ITA Rules Committee meetings to help shape and clarify the rules of college tennis. In the Summer of 2002 the USTA established the USTA Collegiate Tennis Committee. The committee’s charge is to develop and promote the growth of American collegiate tennis at the varsity level, and to provide assistance as requested by the Plan for Growth II Steering Committee on promoting recreational and intramural tennis activities on college campuses. Among the issues the committee has worked on over the past five years include: preservingAmerican college tennis in the face of the termination of so many varsity tennis programs over the past several years; the importance of varsity college tennis as one of the primary pathways for player development; and encouraging community outreach with varsity coaches supporting campus recreational programs and community based initiatives. The USTA Collegiate Committee is co-chaired by Tim Russell and Shelley George. 2008 ITA National Small College Championships Presented by Outback Steakhouse and the USTA The 2008 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships, one of collegiate athletics’ most unique events, will be taking place October 16-19 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. These championships, presented by Outback Steakhouse and the United States Tennis Association, are being hosted by the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center, the world’s largest public tennis facility, for the second consecutive year. This full-service facility includes over 60 courts, all lighted and hard- court, with a pro shop and professional instruction on site. This event, administered by the ITA, dates back to 1986 and determines national champions for NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College men’s and women’s singles and doubles during the first two-and-a-half days of play. Those champions then compete to become the overall national small college champs (for all divisions) on October 18-19 in the ITA “Super Bowl” of Small College Tennis. Each small college division features eight singles players and eight doubles teams who earned spots into this national event by winning their respective Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held over the past three weeks throughout the country. All told, nearly 5,000 student-athletes com- peted in 61 regional tournaments to earn spots in the national event. This is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels.