Many of you are familiar with the International Alliance of Racquet Technicians, or IART, but in case you missed it here is a brief history of IART.

Eight (8) years ago several racquet technicians, previously called “stringers” decided it was time to upgrade the status of those that provided outstanding racquet service to tennis players.

The way do do this, in our view, was a symposium with scheduled sessions and hands-on work shops to put into action what they had learned. Only racquet service professionals that were willing to share their knowledge were asked to participate as Session Leaders.

The first IART Symposium was held at T-Bar-M Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas! Yes, Texas! This symposium was attended by 21 racquet technicians from around the world.

Last week was the end of the Eight Annual IART Symposium which is now held at Saddelbrook Resort near Tampa, Fl, and was attended by sixty (60) racquet technicians from around the world. In addition to attendees there was a “trade show” presented by Alpha, Babolat, Bolt, Ereca, Dunlop, Gamma, Head, Prince, Wilson, Yonex, Y-Tex, and Tennis Machines. Acelon Strings, and Gosen Strings presented strings to all the attendees.

Each attendee received, randomly, a bag full of goodies including a professional racquet, string, wrist bands, grips and several other treats! Prince sponsored a “trivia” session with great participation and great prizes!

Wilson had their “Trackman” system setup on a court and invited anyone to hit and then view their strokes placement and several other results of their swing. This equipment is very high tech and was enjoyed by all attendees. New, yet to be introduced racquets, were available to hit with and give immediate feed-back to the company representatives that were there.

The four (4) day symposium was a giant success.

Why am I telling you all of this? This is why! I want to have more consumer representation at the symposium. Consumers rule our business and have a great deal of influence on what we do, believe it or not! While the racquet technician is a valuable resource when selecting racquets, string, tension, and all other things that make your racquet play it’s best, it is you, the consumer, that make demands that we may not typically experience.

These demands cause us to re-evaluate how we do our jobs, and, without you, tennis players, we have no jobs!

What can I do to get you more involved?