The Lawn Tennis Association has embarked on the most far reaching changes in its 112-year history, as it addresses issues highlighted by the loss of the Davis Cup tie in July and disappointment at the Olympic Games. Changes announced today are the result of a wide-ranging review of existing plans and the largest consultative programme ever carried out by the LTA.
They include:
Within the LTA, the youngest ever executive board has been appointed to speed up the delivery of programmes designed to improve performance at the top end of the game, encourage wider participation and make tennis more accessible, especially to children. Chief Executive, John Crowther has received unanimous support from the LTA Board to make the changes that he believes will re-establish Britain as a leading tennis-playing nation.
‘We don’t just want more players, we want better players,’ he said. ‘We want to see more schoolchildren stay in the sport and fulfil their potential. To achieve this we will focus more resources on promoting the game, finding the most talented players from as young as 8-years-old and developing them with the best coaching and competitive opportunities. We also want to take the game to more children in the inner-cities.
‘We can’t expect to see results at international level improve overnight, but we believe the right programmes are in place and that our actions today will lead to tomorrow’s success,’ he added. Having invited views from a wide range of experts on how best to gain maximum success for tennis in Britain, John Crowther announced plans to:
Wimbledon 2000 income LTA Funding
The English Lawn Tennis Association has announced that income from the Championships at Wimbledon 2000 amounted to £31.136 million ($44.3 million), a 3-per-cent increase on last year.
The Championships attracted record crowds of 455,572 over 14 days. Domestic TV viewing figures peaked at a new high for the men’s singles final of 12.5 million (the largest figure for a men’s final for a decade), while the Wimbledon internet site – www.wimbledon.org – attracted an incredible 2.3 billion hits. The new Millennium Building, offering enhanced facilities for players, the media, officials and members, received universal acclaim, as did the Kids Zone interactive attraction.
All of the income generated by The Championships is ploughed back into the development of the game. Total investment by the LTA this year includes £8.9 million on Performance, which represents a 40-per-cent increase for our performance players over the last three years (£8.1m in 1999); £6.7m on Development (£6.1m), £8.9m on Facilities (£9.1m) and £1.3m on Marketing & Promotion (£0.9m).
‘I’m confident that the programme of changes will deliver the results we all want for British Tennis, from the very top of the international game down to the grass roots,’ said John Crowther. ‘We will do everything to accelerate the pace of change and embrace everyone who will work with us to meet our common objectives.’
For further information contact:
LTA Press Officer Chris Shaw
01952 281517
OR
Nigel Beacham
Tel: 020 7381 7018