“Kiwi” Tennis Asociation Should be Ashamed

Written by: on 23rd November 2013
Marina Erakovic
"Kiwi" Tennis Asociation Should be Ashamed

epa03285421 Marina Erakovic of New Zealand takes on Roberta Vinci of Italy during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 28 June 2012. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA  |

Erakovic Not Getting Support At Home

 

New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic says that despite having her best season ever she is unable to get funding or use national facilities in her country.

 

The 47th ranked Kiwi told the New Zealand Herald that both Tennis New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand have turned down her requests for help.

 

She is training in Auckland and was hoping to get help paying for a fitness trainer, but Tennis New Zealand sad that it didn’t have the money and they directed her to High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), which also said no. So she paid $12,000 to bring trainer Ryan Curtis from the US to help her out.

 

Amazingly, HPSNZ will not even allow her to use the gym facilities at the Millennium Institute or its track.

 

“It was very tough to take,” Erakovic said. “I like representing my country – I’m really proud of who I am and where I come from so it hurt a little bit to be told you’re on your own. It’s been my best year, I’m playing really good tennis and it’s a great thing New Zealand has a tennis player at this level. I believe I can still go better, so it’s definitely deflating to come home and not even be able to train where our top athletes train. It feels like there is no place for me here in a sporting sense.”

 

Apparently Tennis New Zealand is not one of HPSNZ’s targeted sports, so tennis players are not eligible to be part of the program, where they get free access to sports science pros, facilities and supplement programs unless they are ranked in the top 16 in the world.

 

“They have to take a good look at how they do their selection process because sports in this world vary quite a lot,” Erakovic said. “Some numbers need to be taken into consideration – participation-wise, competition-wise, where the sport sits in a global sense,” she said It can’t just be black and white, because sport isn’t like that. The system is far too inflexible.”

 

Tennis NZ chief executive Steve Johns stands behind her, saying “We’re continually reminding them that tennis is a completely different sport to cycling or rowing; it’s a global sport, and for someone, for Marina, to be 47 in the world is similar to being top 16 in any other sport.”

 

She also said she considered boycotting the Auckland only pro tournament, ASB Classic this year, in favor of playing Brisbane, but her family and friends convinced her otherwise.

 

“It was a tough choice. I always love to play here, but it’s just one of those things from a sporting and a professional perspective – is it worth my while?”

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