The Tennis Industry Association UK board is keen to build on the success of last month’s Tennis Summit and will announce plans for future events in the autumn.
The recent TIAUK Summit on ‘Innovation and Trends in Tennis’ at The Queen’s Club in London
“The Summit was a resounding success, both in terms of attendance numbers and in the quality of the sessions and speakers,” said Phil Sandilands, TIAUK Business Development Manager.
“This was a unique event, highlighting important trends in tennis and forecasting an exciting future for the sport by harnessing new technology already in use for other activities.”
John Bushell, Managing Director of SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC. delivered the first session on ‘Trends in Playing’, which was a follow-on from his address on tennis participation at the 2014 Summit at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
Dr Stuart Miller, Executive Director of the International Tennis Federation’s Science & Technical Department, gave details of the work of the ITF technical department and described the challenges of the ITF in supporting and encouraging technical innovation whilst protecting the integrity of tennis.
David Minton, director of The Leisure Database Company provided examples of advances in technology-based solutions across the world of sport in his presentation ‘Disruptive Sport Technology’. He believes that tennis is lagging behind many sports and leisure activities in communicating its message and urged the industry to embrace technology in tennis.
Assaf Arbel gave a presentation on the technology behind PlaySight, a smart-court visualization system that delivers player analysis courtside, before Steve Riley gave an insight into the success of his company Will to Win and highlighted the challenges remaining in maximising public tennis facilities.
The evening finished with a panel Q&A session on the role of the industry in supporting tennis growth.
Sandilands said: “I was particularly pleased that the panel session benefitted from the inclusion of the heads of the BTCA (British Tennis Coaches Association), SAPCA (Sports and Play Construction Association) and the IOG (Institute of Groundsmanship) – organisations that also play a key role in making the sport more exciting and inviting to participate in.
“We hope we can forge practical working relationships with these organisations in the future so that tennis benefits from a wider industry drive and increased collateral”.
TIA UK Members will have exclusive access to the audio presentations from this year’s Summit. Details to be released shortly.