ITF

THE CENTENARY YEAR 2013 06 07 On 1 March 1913, a group of internationally-minded sports administrators gathered in Paris to found an umbrella organisation that would allow their burgeoning sport to grow with uniform rules, standards and expectations. That meeting inside the doors of 34 rue de Provence marked the birth of the International Tennis Federation. In 2013, the ITF celebrated 100 years as the governing body of one of the world's leading sports. It's easy to think of the ITF as simply the game's governing body based at its London offices, running high-profile events like Davis Cup and Fed Cup. But that's just the top of the pyramid. Further down there is a hive of activity across the world with countless volunteers and low-level professionals doing their bit to encourage people to enjoy tennis. To commemorate these unsung heroes and to celebrate and share the ITF's accomplishments over the past century, the ITF published a book on the anniversary of its founding. "A Century of Contribution to Tennis" charts the history of the ITF through the growing pains of the sport's professionalisation process and its evolution from a group of lay committee men to a commercially aware operation with a structure in place that is vital to the growth of tennis. The ITF was the brainchild of three important figures: a Swiss, Charles Barde, and Frenchman Henry Wallet, who were both already significant figures in tennis, and American lawyer Duane Williams, who tragically died on the Titanic a year before their vision turned into reality. Barde and Wallet organised a meeting with representatives from 15 nations, and the ITF was founded with its first member nations. With so many rules of tennis in operation around the world, one of the first priorities of the governing body was to establish an official set of rules and that came into effect in 1924. The ITF's first 60 years were a period of turmoil and change, as the organisation dealt with the ravages of World War II, the amateur versus professional controversy, the effect of politics on Davis Cup, and the fall-out from the 1924 Olympic Tennis Event. But it was the ITF's work at grassroots level, under the auspices of president Philippe Chatrier, that really kickstarted a period of enormous change and positivity as plans started to formulate in the 1970s for a development programme and a competitive circuit to incentivise young players. Within five years, the ITF was running an international juniors and seniors circuit and corresponding rankings programme, as well as coaching tours and a large-scale coaches workshop which today attracts more than 800 coaches from 85 nations. Alongside this work at grassroots, at the top level Davis Cup was also growing nation by nation and the ITF took sole ownership of the competition and changed the format to avoid buckling under the weight of an expanding tournament. With competition came sponsorship, and in 1984 the ITF was able to expand from a modest secretariat into a proper governing body with clearly established departments. From here on in, the ITF continued to grow with the creation of an Anti-Doping programme in 1986, a technical department in 1996, a certification scheme for officials in 1997, and a wheelchair tennis department in 1998. More recently, the tennis world has seen the ITF reinvent its development programme with the launch of Play and Stay and Tennis10s, sanction the new sport of beach tennis, and lead a growing roster of commercial, digital, and scientific and medical initiatives. The centenary year was not only an opportunity to reflect. It also served as a catapult to look ahead to the future. At the beginning of 2013, the ITF partnered with sports promoter StarGames to launch World Tennis Day, the Davis Cup Commitment Award presentations rolled out across the world, Fed Cup celebrated 50 years with a 'Fifty Fantastic Years' campaign, and the industry's administrators and ambassadors gathered in Paris, the ITF's birthplace, for its Annual General Meeting, culminating in a special photo opportunity with the original 15 nations. The centenary year was not only an opportunity to reflect. It also served as a catapult to look ahead to the future. 15 210 Original nations Nations in 2013 THE CENTENARY YEAR 2013

• Cover