Europe’s largest tennis coaching organisation, Registro de Profesional Tenis (RPT), is hoping to create 1500 new coaches and attract 500,000 new players across the UK after announcing today (Thursday 12 March 2009) an investment of £1/2 million into grass roots tennis through its new ‘Grow The Game’ strategy.
According to the organisation, whose training is behind the likes of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, the UK tennis playing population has dropped 50% from six to three million over the past ten years, with over 60% of under 16s dropping out of the game. Limited facilities and coaching opportunities are cited as some of the main reasons behind the decline, allowing UK talent to slip through the net before it has chance to develop.
The ‘Grow The Game’ strategy by RPT hopes to increase the number of players and hopefully spot talent earlier by addressing three fundamental questions in UK tennis that have remained unanswered:
1. ‘Why can’t we get tennis development right?’
2. ‘How do we stop the decline in the sport and make it more attractive?’
3. ‘How can more talents like Andy Murray make it through?’
Registro de Profesional Tenis (RPT) was founded in Spain in 1989 and has trained over 14,000 coaches across 120 countries. It has been working with coaches in the UK for 10 years and has recently moved into offices at an inner-city tennis club in Birmingham, to ensure it can be central to the whole of the UK and show its commitment to the grass roots game.
The success of its framework is unparalleled and the facts speak for themselves, so the investment should make real impact in the UK:
• World No.1 Rafael Nadal is coached by his RPT trained uncle Tony
• Nine Spanish players in the top fifty
• Eighteen of Spain’s top twenty players are trained by RPT coaches
• Davis Cup Captain Emilio Sanchez-Vicario is himself RPT certified.
• The Spanish Tennis Federation only has an annual budget of £3million compared to the LTA’s income of £37.5million.
RPT is the fastest growing coaching organization in the world and its UK strategy is simple:
• Train new and re-train existing coaches for free. Because RPT courses meet National Occupational Standards for Tennis, through RPT’s educational partners and sponsors part-funded or free courses are available. This funding will attract people of all ages and backgrounds to tennis coaching and create an eclectic group of coaches.
• Empower coaches to develop their own systems within the RPT framework and offer support and guidance of how coaches engage with potential customers.
• More players. This combination will help target potential players from all walks of life and use the already proven RPT coaching techniques to identify and develop those with talent.
Adrian Rattenbury, RPTeurope UK Director said “After recent performances by the GB Davis Cup Team it further confirms that apart from Andy Murray we need more depth. Murray trained in Barcelona as a teenager within the RPT framework, the same system that taught three No. 1s Nadal, Moya and Ferrero. Nick Bollettieri also uses RPT coaches and, by throwing the net wider in the UK with more coaches, we want to get more people playing.
From this starting point, give the opportunity for more winning players to come through the ranks, develop a stronger enthusiasm for the game and finally put the UK back on the main stage. The ‘RPT way’ is proven and it’s time we tried the system in the UK.”
“Recent comments in the media about the disproportionate amount of money spent at the LTA on admin and communications has made us even more focused on the need. We have a simple system. Because we deliver a suite of courses for tennis coaching and management we can offer heavily subsidised or free tennis coaching in the case of the Nike Community Coach Award and that is what the UK needs. The more coaches we have, the more access players will have to play and learn the game and we will be able to develop those with potential using RPT coaching techniques.”
“We believe our timing couldn’t be better. Not only is GB tennis needing an injection but times generally are hard at the moment and offering free courses for people who have a love of sport, maybe retrain and become coaches will hopefully attract all ages, skills and experience, and create a new generation of tennis coaches eager to attract new players and find another Andy Murray and maybe even a Nadal of our very own.”
For more information about free tennis coaching and other courses, visit www.RPTeurope.com or call 0870 879900
