New Florida Tennis Beta Website Connects Players, Opportunities

By Laura Bowen, USTA Florida Marketing, Membership & Communications Director

When you want to find information about where and how to play tennis, there is a good chance you have to ask somebody who already plays or just drive to the nearest facility and hope they offer what you are looking for.

Marketing in tennis happens in large part during face-to-face interaction. That’s good, but it has significant limits.

In today’s world, tennis fans and players want information online. They want to know how to play, where to play and when to play. Yet, in many cases, they can only find that information on a flyer or a poster in a local facility.

That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.

If we want to grow tennis, we have to connect players and providers online. USTA Florida has been working for nearly a year to re-invent our web site to do exactly that.

In December, we expanded to a new beta (test) version of our website, beta.USTAFlorida.com, which includes both youth and adult programs and resources, a combined event calendar, a directory of providers and places to play, and the latest news.

Now, anyone in the state of Florida who is organizing tennis play — big private clubs, parks, volunteers, etc. — can register and add events and play opportunities to our calendar. The site is mobile-optimized, and it connects easily to ALL social media.

That means instead of waiting for someone to come to your home or facility and look at flyers and posters on your wall, you now have a place to connect online. And when someone searches for “Play Tennis in Florida,” they can find you.

So, whether you are a player or provider, I encourage you to visit our beta site, submit your events and tell us what you think. That’s how this digital thing works.