College prospects set for USTA College Combine

More than 120 juniors from around the country are set to participate in the inaugural USTA All-American College Combine – the first-ever national collegiate scouting event for American juniors.

The combine, which will take place this Thursday and Friday, June 15-16, at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., is attracting college prospects from 24 states. The group will display their tennis skills in front of coaches from nearly 40 schools, including Florida State, UCF, Rollins College, Stetson and Bethune-Cookman.

The event is designed to give U.S. juniors exposure, knowledge and data to help their recruitment by college tennis programs throughout the country.

American boys and girls, ages 13-18, are eligible to participate. The players will be evaluated on their tennis skills, including serve speed, serve accuracy and ground-stroke accuracy, as well as fitness testing and a psychological self-assessment. They will engage in a number of on- and off-court evaluations, including tournament match play in front of college tennis coaches. The tournament will be considered a Tennis Recruiting “National Showcase,” so results will count toward each player’s Universal Tennis Rating, and the tournament winners will receive a main-draw wild card into a USTA Pro Circuit $15,000 event.

On June 15, the USTA National Campus will also host a combined USTA/ITA College Coaches Workshop in conjunction with the combine, with more than 100 collegiate coaches from NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College programs expected to attend. The workshop will offer a variety of coaching education and professional development sessions.

The USTA All-American College Combine is the latest initiative through which the USTA aims to help American juniors maximize their exposure as they work to earn college scholarships. The USTA also provides exclusive opportunities for American collegians to earn pro wild cards through collegiate competition, compete on the USTA Collegiate National Team, earn grants for playing in professional tournaments and enroll in Professional Tennis Management programs at select colleges.