Alex Eberhart, Campus Carrier Staff Writer
The Berry College Professional Tennis Program (PTM) has received a $10,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association.
The goal of the grant is to help enhance the program and provide opportunities for growth of the sport.
“The USTA is excited to partner with Berry College as the institution takes tennis to the next level and drives growth for our industry,” said USTA University Managing Director Scott Schultz.
The PTM program at Berry began in Spring 2017 and is based out of the Rome Tennis Center.
Tom Daglis, the Director of the PTM program is excited to lead the program at Berry and to see continued growth of programs nationwide.
“We are currently one of five schools that offer this program,” said Daglis. “There are plans to open at least a half a dozen more programs.”
As the director of the program, Daglis is responsible for teaching the PTM courses, facilitating internships and overseeing the student work experience program at the Rome Tennis Center.
According to Daglis, the USTA grant money was provided for the purpose of marketing the program and for providing scholarship opportunities.
“We are using some of these funds for advertising on tennisrecruiting.net where we have a banner advertisement for Berry College PTM and some of the money for scholarship tuition assistance,” said Daglis.
Each year, ten students are accepted into the program, which offers an opportunity to become certified with the United States Professional Tennis Association.
Partnered with a degree from Berry College, the program equips graduates to launch careers in the tennis industry, ranging from coaches to tennis camp directors and tennis professionals.
The curriculum is developed in collaboration with the Professional Tennis Registry, the USPTA and USTA Player Development. Students in the program have the opportunity to learn from USPTA-certified professionals, while also making valuable industry contacts.
Junior Jordan Crance, a member of the Berry tennis team, said he is thankful for the knowledge he has gained and the opportunities the program has given him to pursue a career in tennis after graduation.
“I have learned a lot more about the game of tennis than I could have if I was just playing,” said Crance. “Looking at the game from a coaching point of view helps you see a lot of things you wouldn’t have seen before.”
For more information about the PTM program or the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College visit http://www.berry.edu/ptm.