USTA Player Development announced today that Jay Gooding has been hired as a USTA National Coach. In this role, Gooding will facilitate coaching and training programs while working with players in the USTA Player Development program. He will be based at the USTA Training Center-East at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., and will report to Jay Berger and Ola Malmqvist, Heads of Men’s and Women’s Tennis, USTA Player Development.
Gooding joined the coaching staff on February 28 and is currently traveling with 2009 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion Christina McHale, who upset two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif. McHale lost her third-round match to Nadia Petrova in three sets.
"Jay is a wonderful addition to our national coaching staff and brings years of playing and coaching experience to the role," said Patrick McEnroe, General Manager, USTA Player Development. "He’ll be able to provide our players with knowledge and instruction he has gleamed from competing all over the world, including in Grand Slam events, and from proven success as a coach."
Gooding, 34, a native of Australia who currently resides in Port Chester, N.Y., joins the USTA following eight years of coaching and developing young tennis players from the New York area, first as a private tennis coach on Long Island and as head coach of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and then as Founder and Head Coach of ProForm Tennis in Rye Brook, N.Y. Gooding was a touring professional on the ATP World Tour from 1996-2004, during which time he participated in events across the globe, including in the Australian Open Qualifying Tournament.
The USTA Player Development unit has been created to identify and develop the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif., and the USTA Training Center-East in Flushing, N.Y. In 2008, the USTA began implementing its Certified Regional Training Center program as part of its expanded efforts to develop future American tennis champions, which will expand the USTA Player Development program’s reach throughout the country by partnering with academies, clubs and tennis centers that have a proven record of identifying and developing tennis players.