Background
Since USPTA unveiled Tennis – for the health of it!, it has been enthusiastically received by USPTA members, the industry and our allied organizations. Unlike many of our projects that are tied to specific programming needs of the tennis community, Tennis – for the health of it! is not one activity, but a call to action to make people aware of the health and fitness benefits available through just one sport and through a huge variety of activities.
There are programs like Cardio Tennis that are already in place and programs run every day by teaching professionals that keep people fit and healthy through the game of tennis. Tennis – for the health of it! is an umbrella under which not only teaching professionals and activity directors, but also anyone in the health and fitness fields can promote existing and future activities with a new and powerful approach highlighting tennis for its great physical and psychological benefits.
Every program we promote can easily be run as a means of getting people to participate in Tennis – for the health of it!
This new call to action will make players – especially new ones – more aware that tennis is unique in its ability to not only provide anaerobic and aerobic exercise, but also fun.
It’s especially important that we educate consumers and other organizations about the benefits of having fun and learning tennis under the guidance of a qualified teaching professional. Otherwise, there may be a lot of one-hit rallies and picking up of balls.
Through this “call to action,” USPTA is reaching out to any and all advocates who might have the same goals.
We hope by highlighting just the initiative and keeping our association branding to a minimum on the promotional materials that it will be more universally accepted.
Our goal is to draw attention to health and fitness and how it can be easily attained through tennis. USPTA certainly has many existing programs that its delivery force can use to highlight healthy activity, and we hope willing industry partners will want to showcase their programs under the Tennis – for the health of it! umbrella.
USPTA members are the industry’s best ambassadors of the campaign to promote tennis as a fun way to improve one’s health. They can deliver fun and tennis through the activities they already offer every day – lessons, leagues, tournaments, drill sessions and weekend doubles mixers.
Some of USPTA’s programs deliver exercise in a fun way to a variety of skill and age levels, including Little Tennis®, Junior CircuitTM, Adult Tennis LeagueSM, member-guest events and Tennis Across AmericaTM clinics. USPTA also has supported and promotes Cardio Tennis, a TIA-administered program. It offers consumers a great way to get in shape and improve fitness and fits perfectly into Tennis – for the health of it!
We hope you’ll accept this call to action and encourage others in our industry to join us in doing something great for tennis, for our national wellness and all those who play Tennis – for the health of it!