Education & Training
Tennis Fiji is partnered with Tennis Australia and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to provide Fijians with a range of tennis education and training opportunities. All development officers working with Tennis Fiji are either accredited through Tennis Australia’s Foundation Coaching course or through the ITF’s Play Tennis course.
Currently, the ITF offers two training courses that are held once per year at the Regional Tennis Centre in Lautoka. These two courses are:
ITF Play Tennis course
The ITF Play Tennis course prepares coaches for working with beginner players and children under the age of 10. The course provides training for coaches in basic tennis tactics and technique, the use of correct equipment and court sizes for beginner players and organizing simple competitions. The Play Tennis course takes 32 hours to complete and includes theoretical and practical elements. To gain the ITF Play Tennis certification each trainee coach needs to pass a written and practical test.
ITF Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players course (formerly Level 1)
This course trains coaches apply the basic training principles needed to coach players from beginner to intermediate levels. The ITF Coaching Beginner and Intermediate Players course takes 80 hours to complete and includes theoretical and practical elements. To gain the ITF Coaching Beginner and Intermediate Players each coach needs to pass both the written and practical tests to a satisfactory standard.
In order to participate in either of these courses, the national federation needs to nominate prospective tennis coaches for the next planned training session.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic there are no planned training and education sessions or workshop until further notice. In the meantime, the ITF has made its online academy free for all registered users. The online courses cover a variety of topics, including introductions to the Play Tennis course, communication in tennis, ethics in coaching, tips on developing skills, techniques and tactics and coaching children with intellectual disabilities. The courses are presented through text, images, videos, audio as well as animations to ensure the courses are interesting and engaging. At the successful completion of a course you will receive a downloadable certificate.
Tennis Fiji encourages anyone who is interested in gaining more knowledge about tennis coaching to sign-up to the ITF Online Academy and complete the courses that interest you the most!