TGA PREMIER TENNIS

USTA Serving Aces Delivering Tennis in Communities

 

 

Governing body, Sections taking full advantage of franchise model and infrastructure

At the 2018 Annual Meeting, Katrina Adams and Gordon Smith of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said they wanted programs that are, "accessible, bold, innovative, think outside the box, that collaborate with schools and parks and recreation locations, that pump new blood into the tennis ecosystem and that are self sustaining."

Perhaps they were referring to TGA's youth sports franchise model and their 1,300 school and camp programs scheduled to take place around the country from now until the end of summer.

In 2012, TGA Premier Sports first launched its youth sports franchise model for tennis. That same year, the USTA recognized the potential impact a self-sustaining grassroots program could have on the future of tennis and quickly developed a national partnership with TGA.

Since then, TGA (Teach, Grow, Achieve) has become one of the leading programs driving participation through introductory and recreational programs in the tennis industry. Entrepreneur Magazine has also recognized TGA among its elite Franchise 500® and a Top 10 Franchise Value.

"Katrina and Gordon are spot on with where tennis programs need to head to attract kids to the sport over all the other activities they can participate in. By making tennis available to the masses and bringing it to them through a self-sustaining, scalable and replicable model, it breaks down the traditional barriers to entry," Joshua Jacobs, TGA's CEO, said.

The model has impacted more than 100,000 youth and families in more than 45 markets nationwide since 2012 with no signs of slowing down. TGA (Teach, Grow, Achieve) now accounts for over 25 percent of all tennis school programs nationwide.

In addition, TGA creates full and part-time jobs along with career opportunities in the tennis industry. Tennis professionals, club managers, entrepreneurs and USTA Sections have joined in on the success by investing in the model and controlling the delivery system in their areas to grow the sport.

One of the largest sections, USTA Mid-Atlantic (USTA-MAS), acquired the first ever TGA Premier Tennis "Master Franchise" rights and is building out TGA programs across the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and part of West Virginia utilizing their Tennis Service Representatives (TSRs) network to run TGA programs.

"The growth we've seen with TGA has been very encouraging, both within individual programs as well as into new schools," Tara Fitzpatrick-Navarro, CEO of USTA Mid-Atlantic, said.

"We are seeing that through TGA that once a child picks up that racquet for the first time in a fun environment, all they want to do is keep playing and having fun with their friends and coaches. Many of our participants repeat in additional sessions at school, in our camps and in USTA programs, and that's a testament to the value of the program and our partnership."

The Section is planning to expand to 20 franchises within five years and operate or sell as many as 35 franchises in total. Each franchise chapter could reach 75-100 schools and 5-10 tennis facilities, developing a pipeline of future tennis players and funneling them and their families to USTA-MAS programs and events.

One of those new franchises, TGA of Howard County, is a good example of this success story.

Alex Chan has been with the USTA since 2010, and last year became the Director of the Howard County TGA chapter. He said the benefit of the TGA model was implementing an infrastructure that was already proven.

"With the TGA franchise model, and how they quickly guide you through the necessary steps to develop programs, it allowed us to hit the ground running. Our current tennis growth proves it was a worthy investment," he said.

In Howard County they are currently running 21 TGA programs and anticipate increasing growth and estimate at least 3,000 additional registrations over the next 3-5 years.

"The TGA franchise model has given me the opportunity to operate and grow a business from top to bottom, all while growing the sport I love, which is very rewarding," Chan said.

Other sections that have invested in the TGA franchise model include the USTA Southwest and the USTA Southern California (SCTA), which was the first section to run in-school and after-school programs and transition the students to tennis facilities and JTT.

Nancy Abrams has been a USTA Junior Team Tennis Coordinator for 16-years and was named the Director of the TGA Tennis in San Fernando Valley (SFV) four years ago.

"As the reach of the TGA program has expanded in the SFV, so has our staff and opportunities across the USTA Southern California section," explained Abrams. "My role has also grown from managing a few part time coaches, to over 20 along with two full time coordinators."

"The career opportunity and experience of managing a franchise, from marketing, budgeting, sales development, community engagement to staff management has led me to truly embrace my entrepreneurial drive."

TGA's model and infrastructure is proving to be a game-changer for the future of tennis. By creating local stakeholders vested in growing tennis in their community while providing a high value proposition for parents, TGA puts tennis in a position to grow participation exponentially and identify future talent.

For more information on TGA and bringing a TGA tennis franchise to your community, visit www.playtga.com/franchise.




BOOK REVIEWS
David Berens "Break Point"

David Sammel "Locker Room Power" 

Frank Giampaolo "Tennis Parent's Bible" 2nd Ed.

Becky Gunn Holmes "Totally Tennis For Me" 

Mike VanZutphen "Tennis Management" 

 Bill Patton "The Art of Coaching High School Tennis"

Joe Parent / Bill Scanlon "ZEN Tennis" 

Sidney Wood "The Wimbledon Final That Never Was"

Rocky Lang "Learn Your Game"

Pat Cunningham Devoto "The Team"

JR Thornton "Beautiful Country"

Ara Grigorian "Game of Love"

Marshall Jon Fisher "A Terrible Splendor"

Stephen Edward Paper "An Army Lost"

Judy Aydelott "Sport of a Lifetime"

Paul Annacone "Coaching for Life"

Adeline Arjad Cook "I Love My Tennis Partner"

Barbara Wyatt "Ode to TENNIS"

 

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