SPECIAL NOTE: Be sure to notice that under the "Clothing" information that there is a link to the apparel guidelines. There is also a link to order USTA clothing on the upper right hand side of the blog.
Online Courses
Over the next two years, we will be replacing traditional USTA in-person certification schools with online education modules. We have partnered with the USTA Learning and Development Department and E-Path to develop these online modules, which will be rolled out as they are completed.
In the past, the USTA National and Sectional TEs held 1-2 day in person training schools. The online modules are more convenient, allowing Officials to complete them at any time and at their own pace. They are cost effective for both the Sections and the Official. In addition, the teachings are consistent regardless of where the Officials are located.
By delivering the education via online, the USTA Sections can now use the resources that were allotted to National Schools to conduct specialized and localized officiating training. In-person training can focus on putting Officials in the field and enhancing their skills (more on that below).
The modules being developed and their projected completion dates are:
In-Person Sectional Training
By moving the initial training to more robust and consistent online modules, we can now take the in-person training to a new level. The new approach will allow the Sections to maximize the funds allocated to training Officials by holding training workshops for specific disciplines. Based on the officiating training needs of the Section, they will have the power to decide when, where and for which discipline to hold trainings in.
The in-person training workshops are being developed with the help of the USTA Learning and Leadership Development Staff and Subject Matter Experts for each officiating discipline. The USTA will provide training materials for each course. Through an application process we will identify, train and approve Officials to teach specific workshops across the country. By the end of the process, we will have a network of trainers that will be locally available to all Sections.
In an effort to have a National Standard, USTA Officiating is focusing more time on the requirements a person must complete before becoming a Certified Official. This will ensure consistency and more than adequate training before a provisional Official goes on court. This will help Sections focus further training on these Officials as they progress in their disciplines. The three basic requirements to become an Official have been slightly modified to reflect the new online modules:
1. Be a USTA Member.
2. Complete the online Safe Play Training, which includes passing a criminal background check.
3. Complete the Introduction to Officiating, Rules and Regulations modules, and Roving Umpire 1 (once available) to complete the testing requirement for Provisional Certification.
As we previously mentioned the online modules will be available in January. Until they are launched, we ask that you have any of your new recruits go through the SafePlay Training and Background Screening, which in some cases can take 10-business days to complete. The USTA Officiating Website will have the new 2016 Friend at Court as well as supplemental documents for all Officials to get acquainted with the rules prior to completing the courses.
In order to maintain their certification, all Certified Officials will be required to complete the following courses by October 1, 2016:
- Introduction to Officiating
- Rules and Regulations 1
- Rules and Regulations 2
- Rules and Regulations 3
- Roving Umpire 1
The Sectional Chairpersons will be given access to the names of all Officials who have completed the online modules. We are in the process of determining how those records are transferred into the individual NUCULA accounts so that Sectional and District Chairpersons can also view the information in NUCULA during the re-certification period.
We are about to launch the USTA Umpire Clothing Program next week. This has been a long process, and we appreciate your patience as we worked out all the details. We are confident that the Officials will be happy with the items we have selected, the website created, and the high customer service level S&H provides. In preparation for the launch, we have also created a clothing guide that includes pricing, size chart, and any additional information about each item. Click here to view the clothing guide.
As we mentioned before, the roll-out will be tiered. We have prioritized the Pro Circuit Officials working in January as the first group to receive the link for the Clothing Program Website. Those Officials will have one week to place their order before the rest of the USTA Certified Officials receive the link. This will ensure that they will receive their uniform before their first assignment in January. The clothing information and link will then be sent to all Certified Officials on December 16th.
We anticipate the Friend at Court to be mailed to all Certified Officials at the end of the month. In preparation for this, we will be pulling the mailing list from NUCULA on December 15th. Please remind all the Officials in your Section to make sure their mailing address is correctly displayed in NUCULA. Also, remind them that if they are listed as uncertified, they will not receive the 2016 Friend at Court. We appreciate your help in coordinating the mailing.
As you know, the Friend at Court has been revamped. Some comments, the majority of Regulation VII, and ITA Regulations have been moved online and will be available on the Rules page of the usta.com/officiating website or USTA resources page at http://resources.usta.com/category/usta-rules--regulations .
5 comments:
Looking forward to the new training. It's about time the USTA abandons their obsolete training methods. I hope we still will have group discussions. They are especially informative for us less experienced officials. There is a wealth of information from the seasoned veterans which needs to be cross-communicated to the masses.
Guess who, will now be able to sleep through class at home now.
Some way or another we are still going to have to have "group meetings" or whatever you want to call them. A new official needs much much more than just an online test and we need to meet the new ones in person. Not sure how you can accomplish this without making them mandatory which they aren't going to do.
Would welcome some good suggestions on this one.
It was nice of the USTA to not inform Sectinal Trainers that they were no longer needed.
Fired without notice. Of course now everything is delayed, no one knows what is going with the online modules other than hurry up and wait and order more clothing.
Won't even get started on the ITA debacle
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