TIA Tennis Forum Reviews Industry, Sets Path for Future

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (Sept. 24, 2009) — The third annual Tennis Industry Association Tennis Forum, presented by Tennis Magazine, took place in New York City during the US Open and brought together industry leaders and many others interested in the future of the tennis business. The audience heard about the state of the industry, various TIA and Growing Tennis initiatives, and plans for moving the sport and industry forward.

USTA Chairman of the Board and President Lucy Garvin led off the Forum, which was held during the USTA’s annual Tennis Teachers Conference. “The TIA and USTA have a long history of working together,” she told the crowd. “While we all have our own brand which we represent, what brings us together is our shared brand, which is tennis.”

TIA President Jon Muir said that while the Tennis Health Index (a composite of five key measures) shows that the health of the sport has increased 18.1 percent in the U.S. over the last five years, the sport is still facing many economic challenges. “The general feeling is that we kind of bottomed out in the third quarter [2009] in terms of racquet shipments,” he said. “Are consumers essentially delaying certain discretionary purchases? Yes.”

Tennis ball sales, said Muir, are now trending relatively flat. However, sales of transition tennis balls are up 63 percent over a year ago. “We’re starting to see the impact in sales and distribution of QuickStart Tennis products”—which are age-appropriate racquets and balls for children.

Muir referred to recent, continued increases in tennis participation: “What else can we do to build on the momentum from a participation standpoint?” he said. “Frequent players are the ones that fuel the majority of the economic drivers of this industry. If we could get 1 million people—a 20 percent increase in frequent players—to become frequent players, it will have a huge impact.”

Addressing frequent-player growth is the subject of one of the three ongoing Task Forces that came out of two TIA “Tennis Summits” held earlier this year, Muir said. Other Task Forces deal with communication/positioning (“We need to be clear on defining a roadmap for the future and clear communication,” said Muir) and economic benchmarks (“It’s hard to grow something you can’t measure”).

Key in the communication/positioning area is the promotion of the website PlayTennis.com, a new consumer site still under development. The website is designed to be a simple portal that will serve as a central “clearing house” for the mainstream audience to learn more about tennis, to join the sport, and to get on the pathway to becoming frequent players. “PlayTennis.com will be the first step,” said Muir. “We’ll get key messaging out there through this site. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all stakeholders to get behind.”

TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer talked about key industry initiatives such as the GrowingTennis System (www.GrowingTennis.com) and new features and interfaces that are helping consumers and players find places to play, programs, partners and retailers. She also updated the audience on the “Racket Up, America!” promotion (www.PlayTennis.com/million), which ends Sept. 30 and is designed to drive awareness of the sport and help retail sales.

Kurt Kamperman, the USTA’s chief executive of Community Tennis, gave an update on QuickStart Tennis, designed for kids 10 and under. “Training is big,” he said. “We have to be training 20,000 parents a year” in QST, emphasizing that the training is not designed to take over from certified teaching pros. Currently, there are more than 17,000 recreational coaches and parents trained in the QuickStart Tennis format.

“The biggest challenge,” said Kamperman, “is that there’s not enough organized play and competition” on QuickStart courts. He added that there needs to be a sound progression that will lead to Jr. Team Tennis and tournaments on the shorter QST courts.

About 1,300 QuickStart Tennis facilities are registered on GrowingTennis.com. More than 400 permanent QST courts or courts with permanent QST lines have been installed in the U.S. in the past two years. And starting next year, WalMart will carry transition balls that are used in QST.

The last part of the Forum was the induction of Alan G. Schwartz of Highland Park, Ill., into the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. As an avid player, club owner, founder of Tennis Corporation of America, volunteer, former USTA president and more, “Alan stands alone as a titan of our sport,” said Jeff Williams, Tennis Magazine publisher and chairman of the TIA’s Tennis Industry Hall of Fame Committee.

“Twenty years ago, [the TIA and USTA] were not a united family, but because of the efforts of Alan and others, bridges have been built that have brought us together,” Williams said in his introduction. “Few people in the history of the tennis business have had the influence and prolific presence that Alan has had in his more than 40 years in this industry.”

The audience gave Schwartz a standing ovation as he received a plaque. “I love tennis. I love the sport. I love this industry and I love being a contributor,” said Schwartz. “You have my promise that I will continue with undiminished passion to give back to this game I love so much.”

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The Tennis Industry Association, the not-for-profit trade association for tennis, is THE unifying force in the tennis industry whose mission is to promote the growth and economic vitality of tennis by working closely with the U.S. Tennis Association and industry partners to develop and implement initiatives to increase tennis participation. Core TIA activities include TIA/USTA Tennis Health Index, Consumer and Trade Research, GrowingTennis System™ including Tennis Welcome Centers, Cardio Tennis, 50-50 Co-op Program, QuickStart Tennis and TennisConnect.org. For more information, visit TennisIndustry.org or GrowingTennis.com or call the TIA at 866-686-3036 or email [email protected].

Topics: Economic Challenges, Economic Drivers, Frequent Player, Frequent Players, Garvin, Health Index, Hilton Head Island, Industry Leaders, Lobs and Dropshots, President Jon, Teachers Conference, Tennis Ball, Tennis Balls, Tennis Business, Tennis Forum, Tennis Industry Association, Tennis Magazine, Tennis Participation, Tennis Teachers, Usta Tennis

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