The Racquet Sports Professionals Association (RSPA) is an organization that offers certification and professional development for professional racquet sports teachers and coaches.
Certification is available in tennis, pickleball, squash, padel and platform tennis.
The organization has approximately 15,000 members in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and promotes the racquet sports industry.
The organization's magazine, RSP
ADDvantage offers news and professional development materials for coaches and teaching professionals.
History
In February 1927,
Vincent Richards
Vincent Richards (March 20, 1903 – September 28, 1959) was an American tennis player. He was active in the early decades of the 20th century, particularly known as being a superlative volleyer. He was ranked World No. 2 as an amateur in 1924 b ...
proposed the idea of a professional association for professional players. Later that year it was founded as the Professional Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) of the United States in November 1927.
It later became responsible for the administration of the
U.S. Pro Tennis Championships and also officially sanctioned professional tournaments, as well as the pro tennis circuit before the open era.
In 1957, the name was changed again to the United States Professional Lawn Tennis Association (USPLTA).
In 1969, following the
Open era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
when most players turned professional, it moved into training players to be certified instructors.
By 1970, the association's name changed to United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA).
During September 2024, the association rebranded to become the Racquet Sports Professionals Association (RSPA) and broadened its scope to include all racquet sports.
Divisions of the RSPA
* Eastern
* Florida
* Hawaii
* Intermountain
* Mid-Atlantic
* Middle States
* Midwest
* Missouri Valley
* New England
* Northern
* Northern California
* Pacific Northwest
* San Diego
* Southern
* Southern California
* Southwest
* Texas
See also
*
United States Tennis Association
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...
*
American Tennis Association
The American Tennis Association (ATA) is based in Largo, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and is the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States. The core of the ATA's modern mission continues to be promoting tennis as a ...
References
Official website
*
{{Authority control
Tennis in the United States
1927 establishments in the United States
Tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...