Boy's Junior National Tennis Championship - History

History

The United States Tennis Association, or the USTA, is the national governing body in the United States for the sport of tennis. The USTA was originally known as the United States National Lawn Tennis Association in 1881. Later they changed the name to U.S. Lawn Tennis Association, and then finally in 1975 they changed the name to what it is now, the United States Tennis Association.

The USTA has 17 different sections in all and they are in different parts of the country. The 17 different USTA sections include New England, Eastern, Middle States, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, Florida, Caribbean, Midwest, Northern, Missouri Valley, Texas, Southwest, Intermountain, Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Southern California, Hawaii Pacific. Each of these sections have different regulations and procedures, but they all share the same mission statement. Their mission statement reads, "The USTA is a progressive and diverse not-for-profit organization whose volunteers, professional staff, and financial resources support a single mission: to promote and develop the growth of tennis."

Each of the sections was started at a different time and they each have their interesting histories. For instance, the USTA Midwest Section or Western Lawn Tennis Association, has a great history that started in 1910. The USTA Midwest was started at the Chicago Beach Club in Chicago, Illinois. It originally controlled all of the tennis clubs west of the Alleghenies Mountains. The USTA Midwest had great influence over the whole USTA at the national meetings. When the USTA Midwest thought that it would be a good idea to have a national clay court championship in 1910, they brought it up to the whole USTA and it passed without dissent. In 1920, the USTA Midwest reconstructed its boundaries and bylaws. The new boundaries included Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In the 1920s tennis became very popular in America and they started to train junior players.