Jordan Belga is a recent graduate of the University of Florida, where he received his B.S in Sport Management along with a minor in Business Administration. Belga has been involved in tennis for 13 years and was a star junior player, with highlights that included being ranked No. 1 in the Boys' 12s and representing the U.S. in the World Junior Team Tennis competition in the Czech Republic. In college, he competed for the Florida Gators and helped lead the men's team to the SEC Tournament championship. Belga has received a coaching fellowship with USTA Player Development and will be writing a blog from the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., about his experiences this summer. In his second entry, he writes about a typical day in the fellowship program.
By Jordan Belga
Hi guys! I am still in Orlando just finishing up the third week of the program here. I have been having a blast these past couple weeks. This blog will be more of an insightful piece about what a day is like in the fellowship program.
Let me provide a little background on what has been happening so far. The past two weeks have included a lot of orientations and introductions with everyone on the Player Development team. As a former full-time USTA player back in 2010, it was great to see all the people who have remained since then. We met with every part of the Player Development staff and were encouraged to learn and gain experience from all of them. It is awesome to be around everyone and be able to develop relationships with them.
For me, one of the best parts about this program is that you can choose to dictate how a day in the program is for you. I got paired up with Team USA, and my mentors are Troy Hahn, Kathy Rinaldi and Geoff Williams. I typically arrive in the office around 8:30 a.m. and observe and shadow a practice at 9 a.m. After that, I come back in the office and use the time to gain some independent learning before lunch from 12-1 p.m. In the late afternoon around 2 p.m., practices start up again, which is another opportunity to observe and shadow a practice. Occasionally, I am also asked to hit in with some players, depending on availability. Although I am assigned to mainly the touring and transitioning pros, I have been making an effort to observe and familiarize myself with all the other divisions of Player Development, too.
I will be starting travel next Thursday to Atlanta for the BB&T Atlanta Open. I am very excited for this first trip and will keep you guys up to date!
Jordan