LTA in court

Equality · Social player

RE: LTA in court

indiana · Tennis legend

As a total aside, I note that quite apart from that 2008 Wimbledon girls tournament being Laura's title, 6 of the 7 current clear top ranked GB senior women were in that 2008 Wimbledon junior girls main draw that Ratty linked to.

The exception is Sam Murray, who would have been too old anyway, and Jo Konta was then, of course, still an Aussie.

2 of the 6 ( Laura and Jo ) were DAs, 3 were WCs ( Heather, Naomi and Tara ) and Jade qualified All but Heather and Tara won at least one MD round.

I wonder how much the 2020 upper GB senior rankings will contain Wimbledon junior MD competitors from 2014. I think the 2008 to 2014 progression will be extremely hard to match. In particular, it would be good to see some of the 2008 girls still around in 2020, ancient though they will be :)

PaulM · Tennis legend

Equality wrote:
PaulM wrote:
I know that there are a number of people who have heard about this case (current and past players, coaches etc...) who believe a far stronger case could be made against the LTA for funding decision discrimination based on sex and location in the UK (funding traditionally being heavily weighted to boys in the south east). The stuff about sleeping in a car didn't meet with a great deal of sympathy given the cost-cutting measures most aspiring players have taken on their journey.
A far better case or just a case of hot air? What have they done to further this claim? Criticised the case of someone with the tennis balls that they lack who has stood up to the LTA and said tell it to a Judge.
Coup Droit: Have you offered the Stoute's your help? They look like they may need it soon and you seem to know what you're talking about.
Strike now for Truth, Justice and the American way.... You get the gist.

GBTG have lobbied the LTA over unequal funding for about a decade and been very successful in getting changr into the system. So no, its not a case built on hot air as their research demonstrated. The LTA acknowledged there was inequality and female funding has been adapted, although its still not equal and men receive more funding overall with a bigger budget allocation.

Ratty · County player

Equality wrote:
Ratty aren't you being a bit unfair? She seemed to have a pretty decent junior record and a CH ranking of 127 makes a strong case to be consider for a wild card. imo

Good challenge, and having now looked at the precedents, you are right. My apologies to the people concerned.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Nepotism rife particularly at the grass roots in clubs many of them are stuck in a time warp and very much geared to supportIng certain local families and their interests

So for me roehampton are far more progressive than most grass roots clubs

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Equality wrote:
The Optimist wrote:
Equality, you refer to the simple question you asked based on rankings. Myself and other posters asked for clarification about Isaac's ranking - at what age and in which rankings (LTA U12/u14/U16/U18, TE14, TE16 or ITF) did he hold the No 1 ranking?
Would appreciate the extra info.
The LTA system for Matrix funding takes the top 8 in ITF ranking or TE ranking. I did not say he was ranked No 1 I said he was the No.1 ranked Brit for his age group which is very different to saying he was ITF No 1 or TE No 1 like Josh Sapwell.

When was this the system and when did it change to the current arrangement? My understanding is that funding based on ITF/TE rankings uses an absolute ranking cut off rather than the top xx number of players. Eg All players born in 99 better than 100 ITF get top level funding. I cannot recall the system ever being different since the introduction of the matrix system but your statement suggests I am wrong in this. Initially, in the younger age groups it did allocate lower level funding to the boys/girls who were above a certain point in the domestic rankings. Is this what you are referring to? If so, what was Isaac's ranking and what was the cut off in the relevant year? Given that funding has been automatic since this system has been in place (with the caveat that the player / coach / family abide by the terms of the award), if Isaac was above this cut off (or any of the cut offs) his funding would have just gone to his training centre to be used for his benefit. As this does not seem to have happened, what reason was given for this?

PaulM · Tennis legend

The Optimist wrote:
Equality wrote:
The Optimist wrote:
Equality, you refer to the simple question you asked based on rankings. Myself and other posters asked for clarification about Isaac's ranking - at what age and in which rankings (LTA U12/u14/U16/U18, TE14, TE16 or ITF) did he hold the No 1 ranking?
Would appreciate the extra info.
The LTA system for Matrix funding takes the top 8 in ITF ranking or TE ranking. I did not say he was ranked No 1 I said he was the No.1 ranked Brit for his age group which is very different to saying he was ITF No 1 or TE No 1 like Josh Sapwell.

When was this the system and when did it change to the current arrangement? My understanding is that funding based on ITF/TE rankings uses an absolute ranking cut off rather than the top xx number of players. Eg All players born in 99 better than 100 ITF get top level funding. I cannot recall the system ever being different since the introduction of the matrix system but your statement suggests I am wrong in this. Initially, in the younger age groups it did allocate lower level funding to the boys/girls who were above a certain point in the domestic rankings. Is this what you are referring to? If so, what was Isaac's ranking and what was the cut off in the relevant year? Given that funding has been automatic since this system has been in place (with the caveat that the player / coach / family abide by the terms of the award), if Isaac was above this cut off (or any of the cut offs) his funding would have just gone to his training centre to be used for his benefit. As this does not seem to have happened, what reason was given for this?

Optimist - you can see the funding matrix in full in the links I posted on the previous page, which also specify the rankings dates to be used (usually the rankings after the US Open) and a caveat that if you meet the criteria in April but not in September you get 50% of the funding amount. Isaac is claiming £60k in historic unpaid funding I believe (as well as the usual damages for injury to feelings etc...).

PaulM · Tennis legend

You may also find "Case Study 2" interesting as general background to problems with the Matrix

www.gbtennisgirls.com/thechallenges.html

Spectator · All-time great

PaulM, that is both extremely helpful - thank you! - and very depressing reading.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, Mr. Stoute Senior is obviously going for a VERY confrontational and controversial language approach in his bid for support:

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/equality-and-human-rights-commission-fund-the-discrimination-case-isaac-stoute-v-lta-operations-ltd

TMH · Futures qualifying

...is that Stoute in the picture?

indiana · Tennis legend

I would assume that the EHRC recognises exaggeration and misleading overhype when it's as clear as this regarding Isaac's general abilities.

So, whatever the more general rights and wrongs of the case, it is to me totally unsurprising that they would at least approach with caution. It is not their duty to just take on cases based on the claims.

RJA · Hall of fame

TMH wrote:
...is that Stoute in the picture?

Yes.

TMH · Futures qualifying

RJA wrote:
TMH wrote:
...is that Stoute in the picture?
Yes.

Oh he's the one on the right. Genuinely thought that was a woman.

jaz · Newbie

exactly!!! the LTA only funded Watson and Rice when they thought they could put the Brits up there with the best ... the LTA are a bunch of racists all right ... if you are RICH, WHITE and have cheating morals then you will do well with the LTA. If you are BLACK then you are less likely to do well they will choose the white first for sure. If you are from a normal background - not Andy Murry as his mother would have you believe - given she was the tennis coach for Scotland etc etc, but truly normal and without money black or white you will get nowhere ... unless you win the lottery and adopt their morals.