What should the LTA change to be more effective?

indiana · Tennis legend

What should the LTA change to be more effective?

Kenneth · Lower Club Player

Sell Roehampton, build more indoor centres (as in a LOT more), build some free parks courts, get rid of most of their staff as what do they actually do? Lower coaches earning expectations as most are on crazy money for teaching kids a sport.

Simplistic and probably been said before.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Kenneth wrote:
Sell Roehampton, build more indoor centres (as in a LOT more), build some free parks courts, get rid of most of their staff as what do they actually do? Lower coaches earning expectations as most are on crazy money for teaching kids a sport.

Simplistic and probably been said before.

Also, implement a programme that expects all clubs to have affordable junior coaching, open access membership, team entries (all levels) etc. etc.

And make Wimbledon ticket allocations to clubs dependent on it being met.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

I'm out of the loop with the current regime but a few years back the LTA took the decision that any grants or loans to clubs for improvements or repairs were dependant upon them not having a 'no juniors' or 'juniors barely welcome' policy. A gratifyingly large number of clubs applying for support were easily able to demonstrate thriving junior groups, quite a few had to take down signs saying 'no juniors on courts without an adult' etc etc and establish junior programs before help was considered, but worryingly a significant number said they would seek grants elsewhere as their members would not want to be bothered by children. Analysis of the membership of those clubs showed few people below middle age and a fairly static membership list, new blood was not coming in to replace those leaving / dying off. I see no reason for the LTA to have changed their policy and it is slowly moving clubs in the right direction without coming into conflict with them. The feeling was that it wouldn't be too long before the unwelcoming aging clubs became unviable and would have to change their outlook and become places needing to attract members of all ages and backgrounds in order to survive. My own impression is that more and more clubs are trying to attract families as members instead of just the good adult player.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

I would love to see a proper GB Futures Series set up in much the same way as the USTA have their own Challenger Circuit. If it were organised correctly, and combined with coaching camps for local youngsters etc. I believe it could be a big marketing tool for the LTA to attract new people to the sport at the grass roots level.

I would also like to see the Performance Bonus scheme reintroduced, but make the players access to this scheme dependent upon their participation in the marketing of events and associated coaching camps.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
I would love to see a proper GB Futures Series set up in much the same way as the USTA have their own Challenger Circuit. If it were organised correctly, and combined with coaching camps for local youngsters etc. I believe it could be a big marketing tool for the LTA to attract new people to the sport at the grass roots level.

I would also like to see the Performance Bonus scheme reintroduced, but make the players access to this scheme dependent upon their participation in the marketing of events and associated coaching camps.

Interesting idea and I suspect something that the LTA are going to have to consider soon for next year(in addition to their standard grass tournaments). The problem is how to satisfy everyone.

Men - enough to put on challengers, a few to put on 25ks and quite a few needing 10ks

Women - Tara, Robbo, Mandy at higher level ITF, a big group needing 25ks and then another group needing 10Ks to get the ball rolling

Not an easy call, but I suspect we may get a couple of men's challengers added, a raft of women's 25ks and then a handful of 10ks for men and women at the start and end of the season.

Sim · County player

If the LTA is going to increase the number of Futures then they also have to use them to increase interest and participation.

Arrange coaching sessions/taster sessions at the futures events - get schools to come along and try tennis out and then watch a match ( or a set depending upon age).

All British players receiving funding should have contracts specifying the minimum time they have to spend promoting tennis - especially to the kids - and most importantly this should be a commitment for all their playing career and for say 2 or 3 years afterwards so get the publicity of top GB players appearing at the futures and being involved in coaching sessions.

On another note - sit down with Naomi Broady, apologize for over the top punishment and try to get her back into the fold, Fed team etc.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

The problem with that is that hardly any of those likely to be playing in futures get funding so getting them to run coaching clinics and do promotional bits and pieces is going to be a matter of the players' goodwill not their contractual position!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

paulisi wrote:
Bob in Spain wrote:
I would love to see a proper GB Futures Series set up in much the same way as the USTA have their own Challenger Circuit. If it were organised correctly, and combined with coaching camps for local youngsters etc. I believe it could be a big marketing tool for the LTA to attract new people to the sport at the grass roots level.

I would also like to see the Performance Bonus scheme reintroduced, but make the players access to this scheme dependent upon their participation in the marketing of events and associated coaching camps.

Interesting idea and I suspect something that the LTA are going to have to consider soon for next year(in addition to their standard grass tournaments). The problem is how to satisfy everyone.
Men - enough to put on challengers, a few to put on 25ks and quite a few needing 10ks
Women - Tara, Robbo, Mandy at higher level ITF, a big group needing 25ks and then another group needing 10Ks to get the ball rolling
Not an easy call, but I suspect we may get a couple of men's challengers added, a raft of women's 25ks and then a handful of 10ks for men and women at the start and end of the season.

I have a number of other related ideas for my Futures Circuit.

Prior to each tournament, a marketing team spends 2 weeks in each area visiting schools & clubs to publicize the tournament. One or two players should accompany the marketing team and either by live action (or marketing video if no facilities available) put on a short demo to show the standard of play.

Kids receive a tournament programme featuring GB players with pictures of players, details of rankings etc. And a box for autographs for each player. Kids love collecting autographs.

Entry to tournaments is NOT free. There is a nominal charge of say £2 for adults and £1 for kids, but kids all receive free sweatbands and a voucher for a 1 hour coaching clinic. These clinics to be run alongside the tournament where the players are expected to get involved.

The circuit should have its own independent website with features on GB players and updates on the tournaments.

The would be a main sponsor such as Aegon for the entire series and a local sponsor for each tournament (2 Centre Court tickets being part of the sponsorship package). As the circuit builds, more sponsors should get interested when they realise that thousands of programmes are being handed out and the tournaments are being plugged in local press, radio and maybe even local TV as well.

Performance bonus scheme to be reintroduced but for any player to qualify, they have to commit to a minimum of two weeks as part of the marketing team and 40 hours of coaching at the local clinics.

Overall, what I would try to do is give the kids some people to follow. Get them to know the players and feel a connection in some sense to keep them interested in tennis. Trying to persuade kids to visit a tournament to watch a bunch of people they have never heard of, is next to impossible. But imagine if for the two weeks prior to, for example, the Glasgow Futures, Jonny O'Mara has spent two weeks visiting schools and clubs, putting on demos, handing out programmes, signing autographs, explaining the importance of the tournament with regard to WR points, talking about his experiences etc, and suddenly the kids have someone to cheer for and something to get excited about. So much easier to get them along under those circumstances. Then throw in some coaching from Jonny et al during the tournament week as a bonus and just maybe we will get them hooked into the game.

I would aim for approx 20 tournaments each for the men and women over the year. I don't know what the structure is at the moment for organising futures tournaments, but I just feel it is a massive marketing opportunity that is being missed. Putting on these tournaments under such a structure might just kill two birds with one stone - giving the players opportunity to earn money by winning matches and attracting more young people to the sport.

I am sure others here would have suggestions on how we could improve on the idea - or otherwise.

Edit

Another thing I would insist upon would be WC play offs for each tournament. They had them in Portugal when I was there earlier in the year and they were very popular. If you put yourself in the position of someone in qualifying who gets knocked out in QR1 or QR2 for example, their week is over. What do they do for the rest of the week. Train, hit with partners, but there is no competitive alternative.

Playing qualy WC tournaments would give them that competitive practice. In Portugal, they had two tournaments, one on the Tues/Weds and the other Thurs/Fri. Players paid 30 euros to enter and the winner of each tournament got themselves a WC into the MD. All matches were single set to 9 games with a TB at 8 all. This would raise money for the local club (which I would donate either wholly or partially to buy equipment for juniors) whilst at the same time provide some mid week competitive action for those who don't make it through to the MD.

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Friday 9th of September 2016 01:53:34 PM

Kenneth · Lower Club Player

Some great ideas, but you need more players and more places to play cheaply. There are not enough indoor courts, those that are there cost too much and coaches expect to get paid a fortune to coach. Most other sports have an army of volunteers and cheap coaching. Tennis coaches all want to be paid like professional coaches of sports where players get paid good money. Something fundamentally wrong with the set up of tennis, no matter how many futures etc you have that won't change a lot.
Too many administrators, managers, etc. Who do basically next to nothing and just take money out of the game with No tangible

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Kenneth wrote:
Some great ideas, but you need more players and more places to play cheaply. There are not enough indoor courts, those that are there cost too much and coaches expect to get paid a fortune to coach. Most other sports have an army of volunteers and cheap coaching. Tennis coaches all want to be paid like professional coaches of sports where players get paid good money. Something fundamentally wrong with the set up of tennis, no matter how many futures etc you have that won't change a lot.
Too many administrators, managers, etc. Who do basically next to nothing and just take money out of the game with No tangible

Yes.

The lack of Futures events, in my mind, is problem 10 in a long line.

But far more fundamental are problems 1-9

i.e. more Futures events would be great, but ultimately not much more than a baby bandaid on a major wound.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Kenneth wrote:
Some great ideas, but you need more players and more places to play cheaply. There are not enough indoor courts, those that are there cost too much and coaches expect to get paid a fortune to coach. Most other sports have an army of volunteers and cheap coaching. Tennis coaches all want to be paid like professional coaches of sports where players get paid good money. Something fundamentally wrong with the set up of tennis, no matter how many futures etc you have that won't change a lot.
Too many administrators, managers, etc. Who do basically next to nothing and just take money out of the game with No tangible

Thanks for the feedback. You have actually given me another idea. Combine the week with Level 1/2 Coaching courses to train up more coaches. The coaching clinics for youngsters could be incorporated into the coaching award courses.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Scoop of the day

The Performance Bonus Scheme is to be reintroduced next year. The exact format is still to be determined but there will be some kind of age restriction.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Scoop of the day

The Performance Bonus Scheme is to be reintroduced next year. The exact format is still to be determined but there will be some kind of age restriction.

Bob, the Sleuth par excellence smile

As long as it doesn't cut off at 19 as the final version of the old one did, I seem to remember (for the lower-ranked tournaments).

Happy hunting, Bob !

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

I love your ideas for the futures circuit Bob. I would also love to see a circuit of midweek evening fast4 recreational tournaments for adults, giving them the time/opportunity to play in singles tournaments again. This help the bottom of the performance pyramid and increase numbers flowing up to futures qualifying level.