ITF

become a tool for National Associations to utilise and raise the minimum standards of operation within clubs. The Clubmark would be awarded by a National Association to those clubs that meet the specific requirements especially related to factors that can increase tennis participation and playing opportunities. Pilots and a planned launch will take place in 2014. The ITF Health Benefits of Tennis taskforce was established to help better position tennis as a healthy and model sport for life and is made up of 10 leading experts from their respective medical, tennis research and coaching fields across the world. An article entitled 'Health, Wellness and Cognitive Performance Benefits of Tennis' has been written by the group and is based on previously published material that has been collated related to tennis. The article will be published in early 2014. PRESIDENTIAL & MARKETING THE GAME WORLD TENNIS DAY Annual General Meeting One-hundred-and-one member nations, comprising of 340 delegates, partners and staff, attended the centenary ITF AGM in Paris, France, the founding city of the ITF, on 11-12 July. Marion Bartoli, the Wimbledon Champion from the previous week, officially opened proceedings. The AGM approved various amendments to the Constitution, Davis Cup and Fed Cup Regulations and the Rules of Tennis, as well as approving eight awards for Services to the Game. Membership During the AGM, Mongolia and Mozambique's applications to transfer to Class B membership were approved. The ITF has 210 member nations, now comprising 147 Class B members (shareholders) and 63 Class C (associate) members. Marketing The Game Since its initiation in 2007, the Tennis Play and Stay campaign has continued to develop and this success is reflected with over 160 nations supporting the campaign within their domestic development programmes. These nations are continuing to use the supporting programmes to promote the key messages which position tennis as Easy, Fun and Healthy. The ITF has worked with National Associations and other key tennis stakeholders to ensure that 10-and-under competition frameworks continue to embrace the 10-and-under rule change that came into effect on 1 January 2012. Tennis10s formed the basis for National Associations to join in the inaugural World Tennis Day celebrations in March and promote increased tennis participation for 10-and-under tennis. During the 18th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas in Cancun, Mexico, specific 10-and-under presentations took place daily. Tennis Xpress, an easy, active and fun coaching programme for starter adult players using the slower green ball, continues to be implemented in nations around the world. The British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) began a comprehensive pilot programme for Tennis Xpress in 100 venues in spring 2013, with a national rollout planned for 2014. Other member nations have translated the resources and supporting materials under the Tennis Xpress brand and over 20 nations have implemented the programme. The ITF conducted a review of the International Tennis Number (ITN), a tennis rating that represents a player's general level of play and is recognised internationally, with recommendations to develop a formalised club-based rating system under the ITN programme which will begin in 2014. Development of a Tennis Play and Stay Clubmark scheme continued and will Over 160 nations support the Tennis Play and Stay campaign within their domestic development programmes. Fifty-eight National Associations hosted World Tennis Day activities with most nations focussing on the Tennis10s programme. 32 PRESIDENTIAL & COMMUNICATIONS: PRESIDENTIAL & MARKETING THE GAME PRESIDENTIAL & COMMUNICATIONS: WORLD TENNIS DAY 33 The ITF's National Associations joined some of the world's leading tennis stars in celebrating the inaugural World Tennis Day on Monday 4 March as part of the ITF Centenary activities. World Tennis Day was launched by the ITF and StarGames at the 2012 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final in Prague to help promote tennis participation around the world. World Tennis Day was centred around two high-profile events – the well-established BNP Paribas Showdown in New York's Madison Square Garden and a new event of the same name that took place at the AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong. Both events, organised by the promoter StarGames, featured exhibitions with current and former professionals alongside on-court demonstrations of the ITF's Tennis10s programme aimed at increasing participation among young players around the world. Alongside these events, the ITF encouraged its member National Associations to support World Tennis Day with their own grassroots and club activities to attract new participants to the sport. Fifty-eight National Associations hosted World Tennis Day activities with most nations focussing on the Tennis10s programme. Over 15,000 spectators were in New York to watch Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, while John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki took part in Hong Kong. The New York event was held in conjunction with the USTA's well-established Tennis Night in America, in which clubs are asked to open their doors as part of a month-long drive to get children playing the sport. Among the other notable grassroots activities held across the globe was a Tennis10s festival in Buenos Aires, hosted by the Argentine Tennis Association on 40 red tennis courts in front of the Obelisk in Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest road in the world. Tennis10s events in Cambodia and Iran attracted national television interest, while Tennis10s demonstrations took place at the WTA international event in Florianopolis and in shopping centres throughout Brazil. The day's celebrations started in the Pacific Ocean with a Tennis10s festival in Fiji, while Portugal was another particularly active nation with a range of large and small events in clubs and public areas across the country. Off the court, World Tennis Day attracted a lot of coverage on social media with many high profile players embracing the ITF's campaign to wish others a "Happy World Tennis Day" on Twitter and Facebook. The ITF is looking to establish World Tennis Day as a major date in the tennis calendar with increased support from its member nations each year.

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