Really interesting. I've printed it out.

also thought this comment to be absolutely spot on !

 

"LTA should have its Sport England funding cut anyway as it has alternative funding streams through the sponsors it has attracted. In fact the LTA is sitting on a good asset base but lacks the management to release the money to where it is needed.
Sport England funding should go to sports that do find getting the money hard, as it will allow them to develop giving more choice of activites for all."

I think it needs to be seen in the wider context of overall disappointing numbers for all sports bar athletics and cycling, and the comments from Sport England who seem to be quite positive with the work the LTA have been doing to change things in the past few months.

After some reasonably decent comments about the new LTA chair yesterday, the journos have been back to enjoying the bad news today, but this article by Russell Fuller is reasonably balanced http://bbc.in/1hPvymP 

As PaulM says, the figures need putting into context, and while the full report doesn't inspire me with much confidence about the methodology they use, it shows that more sports have seen big decreases than increases - including football, which requires much less expenditure than tennis and for which participation might therefore be expected to hold up better in a recession.

That is a fascinating story, a tale of tough work and strong group ethic. Akin perhaps to a bunch of Bash Street scruffs from Liverpool, marshalled by their local boys' club leader, travelling south to duff up a posh team from Surrey in the stuffy atmosphere of the All England. There is undoubtably more to their success though than three hour trips on the N.Y. subway, humdrum facts around U.S.T.A. training support and competition that articles often overlook. I particularly liked this paragraph though:-

"Much of Beacons success is a credit to Carlos Maldonado, a sleeve-tattooed, tough-talking coach from East New York who wears T-shirts with skulls and has no patience for excuses. He has worked with the Beacon players Win Smith and Pickering, as well as some of their teammates, and eschews some of the establishment teaching methods. He plays 50 Cent loudly during practice sessions."

Try to repeat that in good old UK and you're more likely to have child protection officials crawling all over you, that's if you haven't already been thrown off the courts for training to the beat of rap music.

-- Edited by EddietheEagle on Thursday 5th of June 2014 07:01:39 AM

Does that mean they have dropped La Manga. I thought they had a long term deal there as an overseas base. Much as I enjoyed my DC experience in Umag, it's a bit too far to nip down for a couple of hours to watch. If they have moved lock stock and barrel, I wish they had consulted me first.

I'd rather coach a player who gave his all to fulfill his maximum talent of a top 200 place than coach a player capable of being well within the top 100 but who can't bring themselves to put in the necessary effort. I have no sympathy for Evo if this is true, which it certainly appears to be; and whilst I don't mean to be on the high horse, and will continue to support Dan in all of his future efforts, I think it's a great shame.