See below for direction from the National USTA office about wearing USTA shirts at non-USTA events. Bottom line…don’t wear the USTA shirt to these non-sanctioned events!
We will try to remind you if you are assigned to one of these events.
We already have ITA shirts we wear for ITA (collegiate) events. The remaining large event not covered is UIL (High School).
Instructors and Coordinators…
This notification is the National USTA Office concerning use of USTA Shirts in non-USTA events…
PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION IN YOUR CERTIFICATION SCHOOLS
Hello Everyone,
We know the season has started and the 2012 USTA shirt policy at non-USTA events will be a challenge for you and your officials.
We have discussed this transition for a number of years at our fall meetings and now the USTA would like for us to enforce the policy. Please relay to your officials and other interested parties that the USTA shirt and gear (including USTA Sectional Shirts and gear) are not to be worn at non-USTA events; like ITA, High School, ATP and WTA events.
David Benjamin, the head of the ITA is looking into having a National ITA shirt. He understands that some regions/conferences have already decided or are currently working with the officials to have their own shirt. The ITA has not and will not discourage schools from doing this. If no shirt is offered by the teams/conferences in a region, then a generic ITA Officials shirt would be available through the ITA. We are currently working with the ITA and our vender to offer an ITA shirt and every effort will be made to keep the cost down. Stand by for further information on this.
In the meantime, if no shirt is offered to the officials by non-USTA events, decide upon a solid color polo to be used at these non-USTA events. This can be determined by your section with input from the college/school or any other organizers of non-USTA events.
Just covering the logo on the current USTA national shirt does not suffice since our USTA shirt is highly recognizable with or without a logo. In time we may also offer a non-logo generic Tennis Officials Shirt (slightly different from our current USTA shirt) for use at non- USTA events other than ITA. We can look into having a shirt that can handle patches to be attached to the sleeve of such a generic shirt that would accommodate other non-USTA events.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience throughout this transition. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.