Improving American Tennis

[airforce1]

Certainly 4.5 isn't set in stone, but it isn't going to be changed except at the expense of another men's sport unless football decides to limit their current scholarship number of 85. Title IX just won't allow for the arbitrary increase or decrease in scholarships. Eliminate football from the mix and you can get parity but there will be an onslaught of complaints from various groups. For a decent article, refer to:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/117574 (check the sidebar showing revenues for Arizona State sports...)

As for eliminating tennis scholarships, I first read about this idea here:

http://www.tennistrainer.com/abolishscholarship.html

If quotas were instituted, they would need to be percentage based to apply to all sports. Tennis isn't the only college sport with lots of foreign players, but it's probably the most visible. Check out college ice hockey and you'll find a higher percentage of foreign players.

I still say we need to build better tennis players. It's more difficult in the US, as we don't have much in the way of government-sponsored academies, etc. As I've said in other threads: get tennis racquets and instruction for free or very low cost to those kids that can't normally afford either. It'd take a few years, but then you'd see far more US players playing college and possibly the tour. Tennis is still a 'money' sport. It costs a lot to get decent instruction, to travel to tournaments, etc. If the USTA were to sponsor more grassroots programs, you'd see a change...

I could agree with dropping tennis scholarships altogether, but not for the reasons mentioned in that article. Just my opinion, but I hate the idea of following the poor practices of the other countries, which are bad for tennis and for the lives of our young people. I won't say it's bad for their young people, as I don't know what kind of childhood they have to begin with, but our kids have some wonderful times to enjoy during their teens. Not only do they not need to miss them, but it is bad for tennis for them trade away these teen years.

There is no reason that we need to be in a big rush to get our kids to the pros just cause other countries are taking shortcuts to try to get ahead. This rush just leads to getting the wrong kids out front and more injuries at the critical stages.

So much of this is our expectations anyway. If our players got serious at 13-14 for 4 quality years, then 2-4 yrs of collage ball, they could be more ready and mature for the tour at 21 or 22. Just like the best basketball players, they could be hitting their stride at 24-25. There is nothing you can learn at 11, that you can't learn better at 15. Maybe guys wouldn't need to quit at 25-29, right in their prime years.