Players attend Educational Forum at World Junior Tennis Finals

PROSTEJOV, CZECH REPUBLIC: Players at the 21st World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov last night laid down their rackets and attended an educational forum.

The forum in Prostejov was attended by all the teams and their captains competing in the World Junior Tennis Finals.

Luca Santilli, the manager of junior tennis at the ITF, began by giving a talk entitled ‘What is the ITF?’. Backed up by dvd footage and slide shows of ITF events, Mr Santilli explained to the players about the role of the ITF in the sport and talked about how the ITF and players can work together.

Santilli was followed by Anne Pankhurst, who gave the players invaluable information regarding child welfare and the steps being taken to ensure their safety.

Guy McCrea, a sports journalist for Eurosport, Radio Wimbledon broadcaster and WTA on-site commentator, gave an interesting and engaging talk on “Media in Tennis”, explaining it’s key role in tennis and giving advice on how to successfully interact with it.

Fabio Della Vida, former agent of several top players, explained the role of the agent in a player’s support team and gave advice on when and how best to employ suitable representation.

The ITF has long been committed to helping young players learn the off-court skills that they will need if and when they become professionals, as well as keeping them informed about the rights accorded to young people by the United Nations. It holds regular educational forums at its team and individual events and has launched an online junior tennis school to educate them on issues such as anti-doping, coaching, parental involvement and dealing with the media so that they can learn via the internet as well as at the forums.