Touring the LTA's New National Tennis Centre
©Colette Lewis 2007--
London--
In a perverse way, it was depressing to see some sunshine today in SW19, when there were no matches scheduled to be played at Wimbledon. But although there was some blue sky and a few peeks at the sun, the tiresome English showers also made an occasional appearance, so there was consolation to be found in that.
It was a good day for a tour of the LTA's new National Tennis Centre, and Bill Mountford, the former Director of Tennis at the USTA's National Tennis Center in New York, who recently accepted the job of Head of Coach Relations and Competition for the LTA, was our guide.
Dedicated at the end of March, the Centre is undeniably state-of-the-art, with an impressive fitness area, weight room, healthy commissary, indoor courts, office cubicles, meeting rooms, sports science area, and, oh yes, tennis courts. The outdoor clay and grass courts were not being used given the damp weather, but the four indoor courts were full of British pros still in main draw doubles as well as the occasional British or foreign junior trying to get a hit in before competition begins on Monday.
At a cost of nearly $80 million dollars (39 million pounds), the Centre has obviously created very high expectations here, and along with the complete overhaul of the LTA being undertaken by Roger Draper, it is evidence of a new beginning for British tennis development. There is much said about the entitlement culture here and the need to change that, and many of the papers, bemoaning the poor performance of the Brits this past week, have filled their column inches with these kinds of stories.
Here's one from the BBC, called GB Tennis Chief Vows to Get Tough.
1 comments:
Colette,
The irony is that the training centre has come under fire for being part of the same 'culture of entitlement' that Draper says he is intent on fixing.
Andy Murray and Pat Cash, to name two of the more high profile critics, have been quite vocal in their belief that the training centre, lovely as it might be, is a case of putting the cart well before the horse. Truth is, it's more a case of buying the cart, lining it with hay and hiring a driver before you get around to finding a horse to pull it. Instead of spending 39 million pounds (when did the pounds sign disappear from computers?) on a facility for elite players, the money should have been spent on finding and developing players who will be good enough to deserve an elite training facility Without them, all you have is a better venue for LTA meetings and a nicer view while you're sipping your tea.
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