ITF announces new initiative to certify coaches

The International Tennis Federation has launched a new initiative to certify coaches through the ITF certification programme, with the aim to increase the number of qualified tennis coaches across levels and countries, according to a press release from the ITF website.

The International Tennis Federation announces new initiative to certify coaches

As part of this initiative, the ITF itself will certify tennis coaches. Earlier, coaching certifications have been carried out by national tennis associations through the support of the ITF.

This programme will also allow for coach certification in countries where such programmes are not already present and will also set minimum standards on coaching levels.

The release also adds that all coaches who have "successfully completed ITF certification courses will be permitted to refer to themselves as “ITF certified coaches” of a certain level in addition to the certification already achieved through their respective national association."

ITF Executive Director for Tennis Development, Luca Santilli told the ITF website, "Having access to high-quality tennis coaching has been proven to be a highly significant factor in both increasing participation in tennis and in successfully training high-performance players. We have been pleased to see coaches around the world use our resources on the ITF Academy this year, with a 413% increase in the number of registered users on the platform. We are delighted to launch the ITF coach certification programme, the next step in our coaching strategy, which we are confident will improve coaching standards across the world.”

Meanwhile, the ITF has announced that it would drop a doping violation charge against American player Maksim Tikhomirov due to lack of evidence.  The 30 year old American Tikhomirov had been charged with evading a doping test while playing a tournament in Mexico earlier this year.

The ITF said its Independent Tribunal found there wasn't enough evidence to be comfortably satisfied that a violation was committed and that Tikhomirov was free to compete again with immediate effect.

The 30-year-old Tikhomirov peaked at No. 672 in the world rankings in singles last year. He is currently ranked No. 726 in the world and has won 2 ITF doubles titles in his career so far.

The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2E1l9Y9