If you’ve tried to go to midatlantic.usta.com in the past few days, you’ve certainly thought to yourself “Hey, this isn’t the website I’m used to seeing!” That’s because USTA has received an all-out digital makeover – not quite the same as say Tai’s makeover in Clueless – but a comprehensive makeover nonetheless! We’re extremely excited about the new and improved look of usta.com and hope you love it, too.
We know change can be hard, though. Someone much wiser than me once said “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and so gorgeous at the end.” Our goal is to make finding your way around usta.com a little less hard at first and a little less messy in the middle, so we can get right to the gorgeous part. To help with that, we’ve put together a guide on how to best navigate and where everything lives on the new usta.com.
Location Sharing
One great new feature of the site is its ability to show content based on where the user is located. For example, if you’re located in Southwest Virginia, you’ll see pages – everything from news to league information to junior tournaments – specific to the Mid-Atlantic Section. People in Nevada won’t see these Mid-Atlantic pages; they’ll see pages from USTA Intermountain. In essence, you’ll be shown only the most relevant content for you when you’re navigating through the site. For this feature to work, though, you’ll need to select “Allow” when your browser prompts you to share your location.
The easiest way to get the localized content is to allow your location the first time you visit usta.com by simply clicking “Allow” in the dialogue box from your browser. If you had already chosen not to share your location, but would like to see USTA Mid-Atlantic content in your navigation, here’s a handy guide to changing that setting.
Let’s say you’re traveling outside the Section or prefer not to share your location with the site, worry not! You’ll still be able to view all the Mid-Atlantic pages, it will just be a little trickier to find them, since they won’t appear when you’re scrolling through the site. The site’s search function will be your best friend in this scenario, and we recommend using it.
Now that we’ve got that business out of the way, let’s dive in to where some Mid-Atlantic pages are located on the revamped website!
Play > Play as a member
As you might have already guessed, this section is for all member-based programs: adult leagues, tournaments, Junior Team Tennis, etc. Many of the Mid-Atlantic-specific pages are in this area of the web site so there is a lot of content here. Pro tip: it’s a good idea to use the filters located in the blue boxes before the list of individual pages begins.
Some key pages in this section:
• Mid-Atlantic leagues home page
• Leagues Regionals and Sectionals information
• 10 and Under Player Pathway
• JTT Championships
Stay current
Head to this section for all news – national and Mid-Atlantic specific! We’ll add in articles about upcoming events, members in our Section who have been recognized, interesting stories and much more. Right now, you’ll find that 2017 Mid-Atlantic Award Nominations are open.
Organize
For our readers who do more than play tennis, the Organize section of the site is where you’ll find resources and information. The Program Resources subsection includes pages for League Captains and Tournament Directors. If you head over to the Grants and Assistance subsection, you’ll find pages for Mid-Atlantic program grants, Mid-Atlantic junior player grants and USTA National grants, among other information.
About
In the upper-right of the homepage above the main navigation menu, you’ll see the “About” button that will take you to all the information you need to know about USTA Mid-Atlantic and USTA National. Scrolling down, you’ll see topic areas such as “Who We Are,” under which you can find the USTA Mid-Atlantic staff directory. (Unfortunately our headshots did not make the cut in the digital makeover, our apologies if you miss being able to see the beautiful faces of the USTA MAS staff.)
Returning to the main About page and scrolling down further is the USTA Leadership section. Here you can find pages for the Board of Directors, committees and volunteering in the Mid-Atlantic Section. Toward the bottom of the About page, there is the Work for Us section, which is where jobs at USTA Mid-Atlantic will be posted – check it out, there are a few openings at the moment!
There is a goldmine of information and resources in every section of the site (we especially like the Improve section!), so take some time to click around. This guide is meant to help you find Mid-Atlantic Section pages, but it didn’t cover where all our pages or more general information are located. If you need assistance in finding a specific page or information – after using the search bar – try sending us a message on our Facebook page or email Chris Lewitzke at clewitzke@mas.usta.com.
Chris Lewitzke is the social media and engagement coordinator at USTA Mid-Atlantic. His favorite Mid-Atlantic page on the new usta.com is the adult league homepage, but he’s probably a little biased since he created that one.
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