Mid-Atlantic Focuses on Increased Growth
Achieves More Top 4 National Finishes Than Any Other Section
The past year has seen a major forward movement in all areas of the USTA/Mid-Atlantic Section and its districts, including information technology, administration and increased tennis promotion and growth.
In his quest to bring more tennis to the Section, Mark Ein, a lifetime USTA member and the Washington Kastles owner, brought us World TeamTennis. The matches provided USTA membership opportunities, a John McEnroe Band concert and on-court activities for youth by McEnroe, Tracy Austin and Serena Williams.
Interest in tennis continues to increase, especially in the USTA Leagues. Participation grew by an impressive 12 percent and resulted in two national champions (3.0 Men and 3.0 Senior Women) and one national Eastern champions (6.0 Senior Mixed Doubles), all from the Maryland District.
Jr. Team Tennis also had an impressive growth. Laura Mitchell of Centreville, VA, increased her league from five teams in one season to 111 teams in three seasons (for a total of 692 players). For her efforts, Mitchell received the USTA JTT Janet Louer National Organizer of the Year Award.
The implementation of the QuickStart Tennis format in schools, clubs and various public recreational programs has made an impact in introducing more participants to the game of tennis. Interest in Tennis On Campus (TOC) has increased to 25 academic facilities.
The Section was the best out of the other USTA Sections in Top 4 National Finishes with 14. This was the most ever for Mid-Atlantic.
The Section excels in diversity in every area, including tournament officials, which increased by 15 percent in the participation of women, Asians and African Americans to bring the sectional minority participation to an impressive 58 percent.
The Annual Asian Festival continued to expand, with the two-day event drawing close to 55,000 participants. In addition, similar events were held throughout the year, including the Hispanic Festival in Maryland and the Washington DC, Asian Festival.
The USTA/Mid-Atlantic Section is involved in a major effort to streamline services to member and promote the sport of tennis to all. Policies and procedures continue to be reviewed and revised as the Section moves to provide a more efficient way of providing services to members. Future projects include enhancing the web page to provide timely information and encouraging non-member interest. While the Section did increase doubles tournaments last year, additional doubles tournaments have been sanctioned in 2009.
The Mid-Atlantic Tennis and Education Foundation (MATEF) provides opportunities to underserved youth in the Section by growing the highly acclaimed Summer Camper program. In 2008, MATEF provided more than 200 scholarships to youths to attend quality tennis and education al camps. It has also been able to provide a substantial number of grants to USTA/Mid-Atlantic non-profits to further their growth.