From 9/21 through 9/25 over 1,000 Tennis and Racquets Professionals attended the USPTA World Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 2015 USPTA conference was the highest attended conference since 2006 and was also the first world conference with the PPTA being a part of the USPTA Organization.
There were many reasons and goals for the merger. One of the main goals is to create more exposure for the game of platform tennis throughout the country. To achieve this goal, the PPTA had a booth featured in a prime spot at the USPTA Buying Show. From 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm the PPTA booth introduced hundreds of professionals to Platform Tennis. All Professionals visiting the booth had the opportunity to view the Platform Tennis Video Displays, Read Platform Tennis Magazine articles, and gather information on the sport and it’s future.
Another goal is to create more opportunities for PPTA Pros. To help achieve this the PPTA will begin to have a presence on main USPTA Committees such as Education, Membership, Awards, and Certification and Testing. After attending many committee meetings and interacting with committee chairs throughout the week, confidence is high that the addition of PPTA pros will be a benefit for all members and the PPTA certified professionals as a whole.
When the evening was over, hundreds of Platform Tennis Magazines, Platform Tennis Rules, and Copies of How to Become PPTA Certified were distributed to the Professional Racquets community. In addition, visitors were able to ask questions on the game of Platform Tennis, the growth of Platform Tennis, and the opportunities for further career.
The 2015 PPTA Booth at the Buying Show was manned this season by PPTA Chairman Brad Easterbrook and paddletimes’ founder and PPTA tester Patricio Misitrano. With visits from all the USPTA Professionals and PPTA certified pros such as Lennart Jonason, Alex Ruppertson, Victor Vidal, Jeremy Speicher, Jacques Felise and others, the PPTA booth was busy all evening with interested parties.
The USPTA World Conference was a terrific start to a great merger and to the future of the game and and the professionals involved. With the visibility at the 2015 USPTA World conference, opportunities will certainly arise and as the game continues to move south and more courts get added, the PPTA Certification will continue to grow in value.
