There is no doubt that in order to get to the next level there is a need for speed. Now, more than ever, athletes are investing in personal trainers, speed training programs, and gym memberships to help improve performance on the field. In this Free Speed Training Clinic, set for Saturday, Feb. 11 from 12:15 p.m.-2:00 p.m. at Sports and Fitness Performance in Islip, N.Y., Coach Frank Dolan will dispel the myths about speed training and lay out a blueprint to successfully improve running speed.

In the spirit of the holiday season, USTA Eastern Long Island teamed up with United Way of Long Island to hold its first Corporate Tennis Challenge Fundraiser in December.

The USTA has named the 10 girls and four boys who have been accepted into the main draw and the qualifying draw at the 2012 Australian Open Junior Championships. Among those selected is Julia Elbaba of Oyster Bay, N.Y. who is in the qualifying draw to compete in the Australian Junior Open which commences later in the tournament.

USTA Serves, the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association, has announced that it has granted 41 community tennis and education organizations in the U.S. more than $400,000 in grants. Combined with scholarship awards, USTA Serves distributed more than $1.5 million in 2011.

Sixteen-year-old Jamie Loeb of Ossining, N.Y. swept the Girls 18s Singles and Doubles Titles at the 2011 USTA 18s Winter National Championships, and 17-year-old Jared Hiltzik of Wilmette, Ill., won the boys’ 18s title on Monday.

Boca Raton, Fla., residents Madison Keys and Jesse Levine both won coveted trips to Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday with convincing victories at the 2011 Kia Motors USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff played at the Racquet Club of the South.

The USTA announced that, for the fourth consecutive year, it is awarding $50,000 in USTA Grassroots Wheelchair Program Grants to 16 wheelchair tennis programs across the country.

Charles Nanton of West Hempstead, N.Y., affectionately known as “Coach” throughout the Malverne schools community, was named a “Hero on Our Island” by FIOS-1 News, the Long Island-focused news channel seen on Verizon FIOS cable systems.

American boys have had a rough time adapting to the clay courts at the 2011 Orange Bowl, taking place at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla. Only two Americans reached the round of 16 in the Boys 18s draw, and Americans were shut out entirely from the Boys 16s quarterfinals.

A Long Islander came through with one of the biggest upsets of Day One at the 65th Annual Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla. Fifteen-year-old Noah Rubin, one of the youngest competitors in the Boys 18s draw who got in as a wild card, stunned the number nine seed, Karim Hossam of Egypt, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The USTA Eastern Section and USTA Eastern Long Island have joined with the national office in operation Yellow Ribbon to say so long to our deploying neighbors.

The USTA has announced the acceptance lists for the 65th Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, which begins Monday, Dec. 5 at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla. The event will be contested on clay for the first time since 1998.