Peter Smith Honored At ITA Convention
December 20, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Dec. 20, 2010
NAPLES, FL - The 26th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Coaches Convention culminated in yet another great year for varsity college tennis. For the fourth year in a row, the ITA Coaches Convention took place at the Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Fla., December 16-19, 2010. This year's event brought back-to-back NCAA Team Champion head coach Peter Smith to the podium in recognition of Smith's honor as the 2010 ITA/Wilson Men's Coach of the Year.
Smith and the 2010 Women's Coach of the Year, Brian Kalbas of North Carolina, were joined by Luke Jensen in headlining a line-up of outstanding clinicians. In addition to offering clinics, panel discussions, an awards banquet, a trade show and a chance to exchange ideas, the ITA Coaches Convention serves as the venue for the association's annual meetings, which include the ITA Board of Director and Operating Committee and General Membership meetings.
Jensen, courtesy of Wilson Sporting Goods, was the featured keynote speaker at the ITA Welcoming and Awards Banquet, honoring the 2010 Wilson/ITA National Coaches of the Year and the USTA/ITA Campus & Community Outreach and the USTA/ITA Campus QuickStart Provider of the Year Award winners.
A former highly successful professional player and tennis broadcaster, Jensen began his coaching career with Syracuse in 2007. His professional resume includes 10 ATP Tour doubles titles and singles victories against world-renown athletes. Jensen was a member of the 1991 and 1992 Davis Cup teams and won the 1993 French Open doubles title with his brother, Murhpy. In addition to his on-court experience, Jensen has served as a tennis analyst for ESPN since 1994, covering all four major tournaments, including Wimbledon and the French, Australian and US Opens.
In continuing with the success of the ITA mentoring program, four highly experienced head coaches, Harvard's Dave Fish, Pomona-Pitzer College's Ann Lebedeff, Alabama's Billy Pate and USC's Smith led the inaugural ITA Coaches Mentorship Forum, sharing their insight on important topics for today's young coaches. This small group format provided a setting that encouraged discussion between the moderator and all participants at each of the four stations.
"The convention is always a very exciting time of the year for our Coaches Association," ITA Executive Director David A Benjamin said. "Besides being able to participate in great clinics and workshops at a beautiful resort in a great city, the coaches also had the special opportunity to meet and discuss the important issues impacting college tennis today."
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 comprised 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.
