The International Tennis Federation announced that the 2017 ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria from Wednesday 11 until Saturday 14 October. The event will be organised by the ITF in conjunction with the Bulgarian Tennis Federation and Tennis Europe at the Hotel Marinela.

The ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference, which is held every two years, is the showpiece of the ITF’s Coach Education Programme. The four-day conference will bring together leading international experts in coach education, player performance and sport science to present on the latest developments in these fields through practical on-court coaching presentations as well as lecture room presentations.

The conference is expected to attract over 650 coaches and experts from over 90 countries. Confirmed keynote speakers for this year’s conference include ITF President David Haggerty, LTA Head of Performance Coaching, Louis Cayer; and Tennis Australia's Innovation Catalyst, Machar Reid.  Further keynote speakers will be announced in due course, and a call for submission of short presentations will be made within the next few weeks.

Speakers at previous events have included Grand Slam Champions, touring coaches and world leading experts such as Pat Cash, Alex Corretja, Arantxa and Emilio Sanchez-Vicario, Albert Costa, Wayne Black and Miles Maclagan. Key note speakers in 2015 included Judy Murray, Dominic Hrbaty, Francis Roig, Biljana Veselinovic, Mats Merkel and Gabe Jaramillo.

The ITF Coach Education Programme aims to improve the number and level of coaches worldwide with a strong focus on helping National Associations to use the ITF recommended syllabi to create their own coach education programmes and become self-sufficient in coach education in their respective nations.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “Tennis development is at the heart of our ITF 2024 strategy, and the tennis coach continues to play a vital role in the growth of our sport throughout the world. We look forward to welcoming a large number of coaches and speakers from around the world to this year’s ITF Worldwide Conference, that will look at each stage of a player’s long term development, from the initial participation programmes through to high performance training. We are grateful for the continued support of our presenting sponsor BNP Paribas in staging this event.”

Bulgarian Tennis Federation President Stefan Tzvetkov said: “We are excited to host the largest educational forum in the world of tennis. Sofia is one of the oldest capitals in Europe with amazing historical heritage and natural wonders. We look forward to a very memorable and productive event for all participants.”

Further information will be available via the ITF coaching website (www. itftennis.com/coaching) where interested parties can keep up-to-date with Conference news. Online registration will open in May.