British Federation (LTA) Might Lose Some Government Funding

Written by: Staff on 19th December 2012

Roger Federer wins seventh Championship title

British Federation (LTA) Might Lose Some Government Funding

epa03300991 Roger Federer of Switzerland kisses the Championship trophy after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the men's singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2012. EPA/PAUL GILHAM / POOL |

Just a week ago Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association was patting itself on the back, citing 2012 to be a tremendously successful year. Now one of the most affluent ruling bodies in the sport has been accused of not doing the job properly and ordered to sharpen up its’ act or risk a serious drop in government funding.

Last week’s LTA annual general meeting saw president Peter Bretherton laud Andy Murray’s US Open and Olympic triumphs, Jonny Marray winning Britain’s first Wimbledon men’s doubles title in more than three quarters of a century and the emergence of Heather Watson and Laura Robson. The official balance sheet showed chief executive Roger Draper to have been paid a bonus related salary in excess of £640,000 (slightly more than $1million).

However Sport England, the government body tasked with distributing funds to British sport, announced this week that the LTA was in danger of having its funding drastically reduced unless participation levels begin to rise.

Sport England’s chief executive Jennie Price is taking the hard line with Draper who was one of her predecessors at Sport England and she intends to withhold three years of the money due to the LTA, only agreeing to release it if grass root participation in tennis increases.

Price said: “The LTA 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’s not working.”

Government figures state the total number of people playing tennis once a week for 30 minutes or longer has fallen 10% since 2008, despite the LTA having received four years of government support to boost numbers. This year 445,100 people played the game once a week.

Jennie Price continued: “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.”

This year the figures show an upturn in participation, which is easily linked to success of Britain’s top-flight players. However the amount of participation is still down compared to 2009, when 530,900 people were playing at least half an hour a week.

“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,” added Price. “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.”

Tennis is not the only spot to have been hit. British basketball and handball will not receive any government funding after a poor performance at the London Olympics, while British swimming is also being made to suffer a sizeable cut.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, British tennis funding, british tennis lawn association, British tennis news, Heather Watson, Jonny Marray, Laura Robson, Lta, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News