SKILLMAN, N.J. - The ITA is pleased to announce a special membership benefit program with the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) as we partner together to form a unique USPTA University membership that will be offered to the ITA Student Members.

This USPTA University membership partners with the ITA's recent development of the ITA Career Central, which is an ambitious project to help support varsity tennis players in their quest to secure internships and employment opportunities for their desired careers off the court. The primary goal is to give ITA Student Members a helping hand in launching their careers.

Introduced in January of this year, the ITA Career Central is a special password-protected site for ITA Student Members where internship opportunities and job openings (submitted by members of the business community) are available to help build a bridge between the student-athletes and the business world.

The USPTA University membership is now available on the ITA Career Central and also on the USPTA web site: its goal is to encourage college varsity student-athletes to work in the tennis industry during the summer months with hopes that they will see the tennis industry as a future career path. The USPTA University membership will be available only to ITA Student Members for a small $25 annual fee and will offer access to the online Find-A-Job site available on the USPTA's Web site (www.uspta.org). The University membership will also offer an array of additional benefits such as the ADDvantage magazine, access to tennisresources.com, optional liability insurance and more.

This is a new membership program for the USPTA. With more than one hundred available jobs currently listed, it can be an excellent opportunity for any student-athlete who is looking to grow his/her coaching career in tennis. The college membership category will serve as a natural segue for those students interested in pursuing a tennis-teaching career. USPTA offers unequalled opportunities for tennis-teaching professionals to get certified, improve their teaching skills and increase their business knowledge. The Association serves as a forum for the exchange of information, ideas and experience among its members. USPTA also takes its role as a pioneer in computerizing the tennis industry very seriously, and continues to bring benefits through technology to its members and member services.

"The ITA is excited to partner with the USPTA and believe this opportunity will open many avenues for the growing ITA Student Membership," said ITA Executive Director David A Benjamin. "As the governing body of college tennis, the ITA is always looking for new ways to better service its membership and is happy the USPTA is supporting this vision."

"This is an exciting program partnership we are entering into with the ITA," said USPTA CEO Tim Heckler. "We are pleased to be able to highlight opportunities for ITA Student Members in tennis that will encourage them to consider careers in tennis."

About the ITA

As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is compromised of nearly 1,700 men's and women's varsity coaches representing over 1,200 institutions, administers numerous regional and national championships and the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings for over 15,000 college varsity student-athletes at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA Web site is www.itatennis.com.