WTA University gives pros options for education

Tennis players are given to pivoting, based on the latest information they have, synapses firing fast, as they react to the shot they've just received from their on-court foe.

They've needed a new way to adapt since March, of course. And this thought stays lodged in the minds of many: just how to properly, and continually, return to tennis play. From public parks to private clubs, questions abound in a midst of COVID-19, a living-and-breathing public health crisis.

Now, new offerings in the WTA University program and the updated guidance around health-and-safety protocols are coalescing neatly for such a time as this. It's a time predicated on self-education and adherence—for professionals, and certainly for players at all levels.

These WTA University technologies, created by the tour's partner, SAP, are being put to use to, yes, educate pros on a range of said health-and-safety protocols.

"Especially considering how much we travel, I think it will be a great resource to use on the road," Jessica Pegula, currently frozen at a No. 80 ranking, told Baseline. "The current course on 'return to play' has been super-helpful amidst all the rule changes."

Pegula in action for Orlando at The Greenbrier. (Ryan Loco)

Added Pegula, “I’m looking forward to signing up for the Social Media and Brand Building Media Training course, and the Wealth Management course, to help broaden my education on aspects outside of tennis but still very much part of my career.”

An educational platform all but built for this year's trying times offers players an a la carte set of courses via SAP's Litmos technology. Beyond that, customized content from colleges and universities can be accessed privately, whether live or on demand—a surefire victory for a tennis pro, whose scheduling, even outside of sanctioned tour play, can shift hour to hour.

That program flexibility suits the likes of Caroline Dolehide just fine. "Education has always been a huge part of what I do, and what my family instills in me," she said to Baseline. "As soon as I graduated high school, I went straight into IU East with the WTA."

No surprise there. Dolehide hails from a family of student-athletes, including older sister Courtney, who had a supremely successful NCAA tennis career at UCLA alongside WTA No. 48 Jennifer Brady and now coaches men's and women's tennis at Georgetown; older brother Brian, who golfed at Florida Atlantic University; and younger sister Stephanie, an Army junior currently playing tennis at West Point.

Dolehide has benefited greatly not just from WTA University but from the Indiana University East partnership that the pro tours have—made famous by Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Rajeev Ram, and others. The 21-year-old hitter continues to pursue degree work in business and psychology both. When the concept of emotional intelligence arises in conversation, she audibly perks up and asks if this interviewer has read the Harvard Business Review book on that topic. (Answer: Not yet, but Dolehide made for a compelling evangelist for it.)

Dolehide has been suiting up for the Philadelphia Freedoms. (Ryan Loco)

Beyond the branding, financial, and other classically educational courses, WTA University lends players other tools for personal and professional wellness tools. It's designed not just to keep them from much more than idling, but rather to set them up for exceedingly great success when the tour does resume. One day.

In the meantime, the players play—exhibitions and World TeamTennis, that is. "The equal playing time for both men and women is super-fun, it's just super-inclusive," Dolehide said. "Everyone just wants everyone to do really well, and we're really competitive." As it turns out, that even includes a jaunt the players made recently from the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia where WTT is playing out to, of all things, skeet shoot.

WTA U and partnerships with schools including IU East and others aren't the WTA's first educational support tools for players. Since 2009, the women's tour has brought a mix of live, in-person and online resources to bear for its pros, who are, at the end of the day, independent contractors.

It's set up for stable, long-term growth, as long as players are on tour. That has made for good news for CiCi Bellis, also 21 and No. 304 at present, after returning from surgery to a starkly abbreviated season.

"It’s been incredible to have WTA University launch during this time," cooking enthusiast Bellis said in remarks for the tour's WTA U press release. "It’s given us new tools that allow us to focus our minds on something outside of tennis and improve our knowledge."

As with quite a few things during quaran-time, this remains: Learning is not canceled.