“NEXT Generation: A Tennis Innovation Workshop” will be Oct. 11-15 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Florida. The event is designed for tennis professionals and providers, industry leaders and representatives, manufacturers, media and more.

The new Net Generation initiative continues to connect with tennis providers, who are registering their businesses and programs at netgeneration.usta.com. As the provider rollout moves forward, the consumer push will start around the US Open and continue into 2018.

The just-completed 2017 PHIT America ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ Report reveals some deep concerns about physical inactivity in the U.S. While ‘casual’ participation is up for many sports activities and adult inactivity trends may be flattening, the trends for children are quite alarming. Children who are active in aerobic activities has declined more in the past year than any in recent times. 

Tennis facility and club management experts, along with sports and fitness industry executives, will share their knowledge, experience and expertise at the 2017 Tennis Owners & Managers (TOM) Conference, March 27-29, at the award-winning Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Fla. Visit TheTOMConference.com for more information and to register.

The tennis industry and PHIT America are joining forces to promote the sport of tennis and increase physical activity throughout the country. The TIA is encouraging any group that holds tennis events to designate PHIT KIDS as their designated charity to help increase awareness of efforts under way at PHIT America.

The TIA’s new “Knowledge Base” will include a series of educational webinars this spring and summer that touch on many segments of the tennis industry. A number of the webinar topics for this “learning series” have been adapted from presentations at the Tennis Owners & Managers Conference that was held in Miami this past March.

With summer approaching, and International Coaches Week upon us, this is a great time to grow your business and bring tennis to a new generation of youngsters.

The number of people playing tennis in the U.S. and the number of tennis “play occasions” increased in 2015, according to the latest figures released by the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) and U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), which were part of the Physical Activity Council (PAC) Annual Participation Study.

Tennis participation for 2015 was generally stable, showing slight increases overall. Year-end stats for tennis equipment shipments and sales, however, were mixed.

POP Tennis, which recently adopted play on 36-foot and 60-foot courts using Red, Orange, and Green tennis balls, was demonstrated on-court at the PTR Symposium in February in Hilton Head. The sport will be demonstrated during the Tennis Owners & Managers Conference in Miami March 23-25, and in April, four Chicago-area Midtown clubs will hold POP Tennis pilot programs.