Launch of the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme

The IC Council is proud to announce the launch of the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme, in partnership with Give Learn. This unique initiative is designed to support players as they navigate the demands of professional tennis and plan for life beyond the game.

The programme will offer players on the ITF tours the opportunity to be matched with an experienced mentor from the worlds of finance, technology, entrepreneurship and beyond — someone who can offer guidance, perspective and a genuine connection outside of tennis.

Over the course of twelve months, participants will receive eight one-to-one sessions with their mentor alongside four group workshops covering topics such as building your personal brand on LinkedIn, starting a business while competing, financial planning, and preparing for a career after tennis.

Whether a player is thinking about their next chapter or simply wants to grow beyond the court, this programme could be for them.

Players can apply by logging in to the ITF website at itftennis.com using their IPIN. The deadline for 2026 applications is 30 June 2026.

For more information, click here to read more about the programme or contact player.care@itftennis.com with any queries.

Become a programme mentor

Our global IC community is full of individuals who have built successful careers in a wide range of fields and may have valuable experience to offer participants on the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme as mentors.

In particular, we’d like to hear from IC members who have:

• Industry expertise — a recognised leader or specialist in their field with a track record that players can learn from and credibility that commands respect
• Genuine desire to give back — motivated by impact rather than profile, someone who sees mentoring as a privilege not a transaction
• Time availability — senior enough to be valuable, but not so stretched they can't show up consistently for a monthly session
• Cross-cultural awareness — comfortable working with young athletes from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, many of whom are navigating life outside their home country
• Commercial or entrepreneurial experience — able to help players think about life beyond sport, from brand building and investments to business foundations and financial literacy
• Emotional intelligence — understands the unique pressures of elite sport, can listen as well as advise, and knows the difference between coaching and mentoring.

If this sounds like you and you would like to be considered to become a programme mentor, please contact James Cluskey from Give Learn at j.cluskey@givelearn.net. James is a member of the IC of Ireland – you can read more about his tennis and IC background here.

TUESDAY REPORT FROM WORLDWIDE IC JUNIOR CHALLENGE FINALS

Another good day of tennis with wins for Italy over Uruguay, Japan over South Africa and USA over India. This means two teams remain unbeaten with 2 wins/points each. This is USA and Italy who will meet each other on Wednesday. Japan and Uruguay have one win/point each and will also meet on Wednesday. The other two teams India and South Africa will also play each other so one will get their first win.

The attitude of the juniors on court has been good demonstrating the IC motto of "Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean". The matches have also been strongly contested with the winning teams being pushed to many close matches and tie breaks in order to achieve their results.

There is no question the juniors are getting a great tennis experience playing others from different countries and adapting to a new surface for many of them of artificial grass. By the end of the week they should all have played 5 singles matches and probably five doubles matches which is much more than they would usually get in any regular tournament. These are also all against high quality opponents.

In addition the cultural experience they are having, that the IC of Japan has arranged, is also continuing with a visit to a Buddhist temple complex after their Tuesday matches.  The results and draw tables can be seen below.  Photos from the days matches can be viewed here

Wednesday’s matches are:

USA v Italy

Uruguay v Japan

India v South Africa

IC junior result 2018_10092018.xlsx

Draw.xlsx