Apparently Tennis has a problem, participation rates and the game at grass roots levels are in decline, so Tennis Australia has gone to plan B.
Tennis Australia has witnessed a loss of interest in the game by people who played as children. Their parents passed the game on to them, but they were not passing it on to their children.
Worsening the player drought are increasing demands on time, a view that it is expensive, and the influence of growing sports such as soccer.
“It is that side we want to grow because there is a relationship between the two,” Mr Nancarrow said.
Of course plan B has always been plan A, no sport can survive for long with a singular focus on high performance. Tennis Australia has no one to blame but themselves, They have largely sat on their hands for a decade, enjoying the fit of a nicely cut blazer and preferred seating at marquee tournaments while riding the back of an embarrassment of riches generated by the likes of Pat Rafter, the Woodies and Hewitt.
Meanwhile, many interested observers could see the drought coming and the lack of depth in the playing ranks – something that can only be blamed on a lack of focus on ongoing grass roots participation and development. In many ways the success of a past generation of greats blinded administrators to this looming problem. Maybe willfully so.
Here is the money quote that tells us everything we’d ever want to know about the approach Tennis Australia usually takes, and why those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
He said 18 months ago the answer to Tennis Australia’s problems would have been to increase the sports profile on the world stage, but with at least four promising young talents now coming through the ranks, the focus had to shift back to getting everyday Australians to again participate in the sport.
It’s the same old story, participation is the old new thing, and so is wishing upon a star that the current crop of juniors work out. And if it doesn’t, then it’s back to high performance talent identification (usually involving the same old clapped out former tennis greats) in the hopes of uncovering a break out player that can not only save the game and Channel Seven’s ratings, but the administrators from themselves………..all once again leaving the grass roots unattended and to fend for themselves.
4 responses so far ↓
Shaun // Apr 23, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Since sport have become a business, the grass roots for many sports has suffered.
That is not to say that elite sports can’t be a profit making venture, but if all you focus upon is the money then the importance of a good junior base is easily overlooked.
Club Troppo » Missing Link - Anzac Day Special Edition // Apr 26, 2007 at 5:42 pm
[...] Phil at Sidelined turns his attention from cycling to tennis, providing an excellent backgrounder on declining participation in what used to be Australia’s ‘other’ Summer sport. [...]
Russ // Apr 26, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I have nothing but scorn for officials who’ve somehow managed to make tennis an expensive sport. It should be an exceptionally cheap sport to play. You need what (at minimum)? A $50 racket, a few tennis balls, and a court. But try and find a court to play on…
For a sport that can cater for a decent number of players on limited space, and with comparatively minimal maintainence fees playing is excessively expensive and frustratingly difficult to organise. Membership runs into the hundred of dollars; without that you need to pay $10, plus call someone to organise a key and book a time. No wonder courts are empty 90% of the time when young players could be using them.
Sure, I’m not the future pro Tennis Australia needs, but like those future pros that aren’t I’d love to play tennis, and don’t, because it is a hassle. My friends and I play basketball or soccer where the court/field is free and accessible without any notice.
Needless to say, I find television advertisements imploring me to go down to my local court to play pretty annoying too.
Kate // May 6, 2007 at 7:36 pm
From my experience as a parent of a player in Juniors competition, I fail to see why parents would keep their children in comp. The juniors in the lower grades are at such different levels. e.g. 9yo with 1yr of coaching once a week & has just begun playing a second season, plays a 12yo who has had 3-4yrs of coaching and some of that has been twice a week yet are playing their first season in the same grade. Of course 12yo blitzes 9yo. Has the 9yo (on coach’s advice), been put in comp too early. There is little rallying and no benefit to winner of loser except experience. Alot of parents would have to pull children out of comp through seeing the complete difference in age and ability not to mention watching their child get thumped every week and apparantely they’re supposed to be playing the same level.
There is a demand on parents to umpire. Alot of parents have no tennis background at all. Should the tennis clubs be providing an umpire?
Coaches should also have some attendance at the comps. How do parents know if they have the right coach? Where’s that sort of information?