That’s a bit embarassing!
British Tennis had an incredible 2012 with Murray winning his first slam (after 76 years for UK) a single gold medal (after 100 years missing for his country), Marray won Wimbledon men’s doubles and there are a couple of very interesting prospect players that are coming stronger and stronger in the women’s circuite (Laura Robson and Heather Watson).
In addition, Wimbledon had a record year in terms of profits. Time to increase fundings and go for the kill after this incredible feat? Not really… let’s hold back!
The Controversy
It sounds a bit political. The Sport England’s chief executive Jennie Price accused LTA not to have strong plans for the development of the sport.
Since 2008 the number of people playing tennis for at least 30 minutes per week has been falling even if LTA had handsome financial support. This year 445,100 people played tennis once per week.
The Statement
Sport England released the following statement
“The LTA has taken a while to grasp that it is a different market place now and you have to build participation despite so much competition out there. You can’t just shout, ‘I am tennis, here’s my product’, the sport has to start instead with understanding what their customer wants, it has taken the LTA some time to understand this.
“They need a stronger plan, they need the right skills to deliver it and they need to have feedback so they know what is working and change it fast if it isn’t working. It is very important that tennis gets it right, because this is a sport that appeals across a wide age range and for men and women.”
Time to think about it….?
