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| Overview |
| Grand Slam Development Fund |
| Olympic Solidarity |
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| ITF Development Programme - Overview |
 | | Developing tennis around the world |  | | Junior Tennis Initiative launch in Santiago, Chile |  | | 2007 ITF 14 & Under Caribbean Development Championships which were held in St Vincent & the Grenadines |  | | Ricardas Berankis (LTU) member of the ITF/GSDF Touring Team to North America when he won the 2007 US Open, with ITF/GSDF team coach Frank Zlesak |  | | Speakers who presented at the15th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference |
The ITF Development Programme is funded by the ITF and the Grand Slam Development Fund, which is itself funded by the Grand Slams and administered by the ITF Development Department.
During the period 1986 - 2007 more than US$63 million has been invested in tennis development activities in 150 countries worldwide. In 2007, US$ 4.1 million was spent on the Development Programme with US$ 2.6 million being invested by the ITF and the balance of US$1.5 million contributed by the Grand Slam nations to the Grand Slam Development Fund partly from proceeds generated from the Tennis Masters Cup. The Tennis Masters Cup, which ran from 2000-2008, was co-owned by the ITF, Grand Slams and ATP.
With the aim of raising the level of tennis worldwide and increasing the number of countries competing in mainstream international tennis, the ITF Development Programme includes a broad range of initiatives in less developed countries ranging from the grass roots to Grand Slams. Activities include ITF touring teams, funding for junior and professional tournaments, funding for tennis facilities, travel grants for talented players, training centres and coaches education, the supply of tennis equipment and the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative – a 14 & Under player development programme, which encompasses the School Tennis Initiative and Performance Tennis Initiative programmes.
Special emphasis has been placed on junior tennis where regional tournament circuits have been developed and teams of young players compete outside their own region. In 2007, 23 regional circuits were supported by the Development Programme, providing much needed competition for the best players in the 18, 16 and 14 & Under age groups across the globe (Central America & Caribbean, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Pacific Oceania).
Players who perform well at these regional circuits are invited to join an international touring team. The touring team programme aims to facilitate the transition of talented players through regional and international competitions and onto the professional ranks. In 2007, there were 20 ITF Touring Teams involving 183 players from 75 different countries. Former ITF Touring Team members include: Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), Nicolas Massu (Chile), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador), Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (India), Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia), Eleni Daniilidou (Greece), Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco), Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand), Cara Black (Zimbabwe), Jarkko Nieminen (Finland), Florin Mergea (Romania, Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus), Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine), Viktoria Azarenka (Belarus), Uladzimir Ignatik (Belarus) and Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania).
Travel grants are also awarded to talented players from developing nations for a specific programme of tournaments. In 2007, 21 players from 15 countries benefited from grants to play in events outside their country. In addition, prize-money grants are awarded to assist developing nations with the hosting of entry-level professional events for men and women, to help provide competitive opportunities throughout the world. In 2007, the Fund provided grants for 61 weeks of Men’s professional events (ITF Satellites and Futures) and 28 weeks of ITF Women’s circuit events.
Coaches’ education continues to be a priority for the Development Programme and with more and more ITF member nations keen to put in place their own coaches certification programme, the ITF's role is to help them become self-sufficient by helping to run courses, assessing coaches, selecting future course tutors and making sure the latest coaching information is easily accessible to them. To date, more than 80 countries worldwide are using the ITF's recommended Level 1 and Level 2 syllabi as part of their own programme.
In 2007, 58 coaches' courses (national and regional) took place. In addition, the ITF’s coaches’ education flagship event – the 15th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference was held in Asunción, Paraguay in October 2007. The biennial event, which was held for the first time in South America, attracted more than 350 coaches from 90 countries – recording the event’s highest ever attendance figure in its history. The theme of the Conference was ‘An integrated approach to coaching advanced players’ and attracted many of the world’s leading experts in sport science and medicine, psychology, biomechanics, player development and coaches’ education. Speakers at the conference included Bruce Elliott, Paul Roetert Ph.D, Gustavo Luza, Antoni Girod, Victor Pecci, Machar Reid Ph.D, Steven Martens, Todd Ellenbecker, Beni Linder, Randy Snow, Ivo van Aken and Ann Quinn.
The ITF Equipment Distribution Programme provides tennis equipment and educational materials to approved national programmes. During 2007, approximately 17,140 rackets, 134,673 balls as well as nets and strings were distributed to over 100 national associations worldwide.
The implementation of many of the tennis development initiatives relies on the work of the ten ITF Development Officers who are ‘out in the field’ advising and assisting national associations on their activities. They spent an average of 30 weeks on the road working with national associations, players and coaches in more than 100 countries to develop the game:
Amine Ben Makhlouf - Development Officer, West and Central Africa
Karl Davies - Development Officer, Southern Africa
Prince Madema - Development Officer, East Africa
Carlos Rodriguez - Development Officer, Central America
Anthony Jeremiah - Development Officer, Caribbean
Miguel Miranda - Development Officer, South America
Dan O’Connell - Development Officer, Pacific Oceania
Suresh Menon - Development Officer, Asia
Karim Saddallah (Anis Bouchlaka from Jan 08) - Development Officer, West Asia
Hrvoje Zmajic - Development Officer, Europe
Please refer to the PDF documents below should you wish to access the ITF Development Programme Annual Reports for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
| The above documents are in Adobe Acrobat format. To view and print them you require the Acrobat Reader program installed on your computer. Click on the icon to download a free copy of the Reader. |  |
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