Great Ideas generated at the 2005 Community Tennis Development Workshop (separated by topic)

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1 Community Tennis Development Workshop: Video tape the individual sessions. There are a lot of good sessions that people would like to attend, but they are at the same time. If they were taped, a person can see what they missed at a later time. Editor s Note: In the past, videotapes of the individual CTDW sessions have been for sale. However, due to the low interest it was not cost effective for us to continue providing this service. Round tables for CTAs to share ideas! This Great Idea Gallery concept is a Great Idea! At dinner, advertise the award recipient panel discussion Hold an idea exchange with park and recreation agencies, clubs, CTAs, and schools Rent a shuttle to transport attendees to the airports Shorter name badge lanyards - when attendees sit down, others at the table can t see your name A ride-share message board for people to organize rides with other attendees to the airports (helps defer costs) Require presenters to turn in their presentations. The USTA can then take all the presenters material and compile them on one CD to sell. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) did this at their conference in Reno, Nevada. Provide discounts for attendees at the hotel/resort shops and the pro shop Provide a list of attendees contact information. Editor s Note: Due to legal reasons the USTA is not allowed to share the personal information of their event attendees. Customer Service: Send personal notes, not just s Provide a customer service line, or telephone doctor, that people can call into with their problems/issues Have tennis carts (similar to golf carts) available at courts where seniors play CTA business cards! Treat your staff as well as you treat your clients and volunteers Kids: PS certified instructors can give a Physical Education credit (in most states) A real no child left behind, and needs-based gifts A progressive tennis game for kids (similar to what T-ball is for baseball). Editor s Note: Currently, three programs exist in the tennis industry for kids aged 3 to 10 that take into account that racquets and full-sized courts are too big and the balls bounce too high and fast for small kids. The programs are: Mini Tennis (LTA), Little Tennis (USPTA), and Munchkin (PTR). Get cartoon characters to play tennis! (i.e. use the USTA s affiliation with the Cartoon Network, SpongeBob SquarePants, etc.) Growth and Development: Look at the human resources of state agencies, most have a fitness challenge program Get the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) involved with Tennis Month. Many PTAs are already involved with after-school programs (i.e. chess, sewing), and could add tennis. Home school tennis is an untapped market! Out with Soccer Moms, in with Tennis Moms teach parents to teach tennis Page 1 of 5

2 Marketing, Advertising, and Promotion: Use the Tennis Welcome Center creative material to promote corporate leagues, specifically the Donald Trump ad Market to the seniors (50+ age group) we re the only ones getting back into the game Use video footage on the national and local USTA websites featuring highlights of the 2005 CTDW - get people pumped! Find a professional businesswoman to use in the Tennis Welcome Center ads to compliment the Donald Trump ad (i.e. Oprah Winfrey) Advertise on the Weather Channel! Tons of people (especially 50+) watch it! The current USTA promotional material is great, but to get new people we need to reach out to other forms of media rather than the usual ESPN and health and fitness magazines. How about family and home magazines, community YMCAs, or TV networks that focus on family? Advertise in the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) magazine (to get the 50+ age group) Put ads in parent magazines Have tennis demos at halftime during local high school basketball games, use big foam balls and mini portable nets. (I saw Althea Gibson at halftime during a Boston Celtics game when I was 10 years old. Hence, I m a female athlete and interested in tennis!) Tear our inserts in Tennis Magazine that read Get this magazine for free, join the USTA! Buy tickets at the challenger level to give out and the local level. Develop Battle of the Ages ads with a 50+ tennis player dominating a younger player on the courts Programming: Link leagues with NJTL emphasize the L (leagues) Link schools program to NJTL Incorporate an annual fee for league play Special Events: Host a Take a Friend to Court day introduce a new player to tennis Replicate the Tallahassee Snowball Smash parent-child round robin tournament for the holidays Have a volunteer appreciation clinic/day Bring a Buddy Night the buddy can be someone who has never played, or has not played for a long time. This really helps bring new people into tennis. We have a Match for You! a tennis and social event for singles to interact Hold a weekly event where league players can bring a non-player to the courts, then eat and play tennis; provide follow-up opportunities TennisLink: Once a CTA registers online in TennisLink to receive USTA benefits (like the new CTA/NTJL insurance program), generate a deadline date that matches up with their USTA Organization Membership renewal date To revise a CTA s information on TennisLink, set up direct asking for any corrections to the online CTA form. Also ask if they would like to make this correction now, or later? Page 2 of 5

3 Etc: Make local coordinators a requirement to promote team work on USTA programs Do a video of Tennis Rules Get a non-profit attorney on your CTA board Tennis site at schools to help kids overcome discipline problems Pressure is a privilege! Billie Jean King People play tennis because someone asks them to play! Some old ideas are new again - tennis is the sport of family values Use existing books on tennis rules, codes of conduct, etc., and create a book on tape that people can listen to while they are driving or traveling Have the USTA provide articles on the benefits of tennis that people can run in their local newsletters (i.e. the benefits of tennis on the mind and body) Diversify your board - some 50+ players make very active, committee members who can run events like fundraisers Great Ideas Submitted Online: Great Idea: A course on programming strategies to reduce expenses/increase revenue The USTA has been great in teaching the games approach to teaching tennis, which encourages creative programming opportunities. A course on how to incorporate programming strategies to reduce expenses or increase revenue would be very helpful to CTAs. - Mary Conaway, Reston Tennis Association Great Idea: Survivor Ruff Park The teams: Red Team vs. Blue Team (wearing red and blue handkerchiefs), twelve players per team for adult mixed play. A leader representing each team selects their team members. Then one pair from each team plays a round of doubles. After the round of doubles, the winning team wins immunity while the losing team must vote off two players from their team. The cycle continues until six rounds of doubles are played. When the final round is played and the winning pair remain, the two players then play in a 7 th singles round for the title: Survivor Ruff Park. - Jacquelyn Somerville, Pennyrile Area Tennis Association Great Idea: Doubles Round Robins Round robins are often hard to organize due to players arriving late, no shows or players wanting to leave early. As a solution, at the start of the event we have players draw a card from a deck with all suits, aces through the number of courts available. After a player draws a card, the number on the card reflects what court the player will play on, while the color reflects their partner and opponent. Players with red cards play against players with black cards. After a match, players report back to the event facilitator with their score and to redraw for the next round. If players leave early, courts are closed with the corresponding number removed from the deck of cards. - Richard Walther, Summit Tennis Association Great Idea: Tennis in the Park Challenge Cup A two-month program, the Tennis in the Park Challenge Cup kicked off with a Family Fun Day at all Atlanta area tennis centers. After the Family Fun Day, the centers offered introductory lessons. At the end of the lessons, each tennis center organized teams of new adult and junior players to Page 3 of 5

4 competed against each other for the Challenge Cup. Through creative scoring, the teams were awarded points for a variety of competitions that included ball handling, controlled hitting and Ralleyball. The Challenge Cup was given to the winning tennis center. Lunch, t-shirts and certificates were given to each of the participants. - Elaine Hamilton, USTA Georgia Great Idea: Parents Play Too We noticed that parents would bring their children to our youth tennis clinics and wait courtside for them to finish. Taking advantage of a great opportunity, we implemented adjacent courts and started clinics for the parents at the same time. Both groups get to enjoy themselves, while almost reassuring they will re-enroll in the next clinic! - Richard Walther, Summit Tennis Association Great Idea: USTA Youth Mentoring Program With a fast-growing Rallyball program, we needed volunteers to insure safety and to run more stations. As high school coaches, we decided to train our high school players to become Rallyball teachers and tennis mentors. The high schoolers are able to get community service hours, while becoming better players and turning into true community leaders. - Louise Downey, Ace Performance Youth Tennis Great Idea: Community Grand Slam Tournament Series In Baton Rouge, there were too many facilities offering adult tournaments. The saturation was creating low participation rates and rising tournaments fees. As a solution, we formed a Grand Slam Tournament Series. Over the course of a year, four major tournaments were held at various public and private clubs. Using a point system, prizes were given at the end. It was a great opportunity for everyone: tennis facilities were able to make money and increase tennis excitement in the community, while sponsors could receive advertising all year at various venues. - Yvette Marshall, Baton Rouge Park and Recreation Great Idea: Homeschool Tennis An untapped market, homeshoolers represent a huge growth opportunity for tennis! Homeschoolers are able to utilize courts when they are generally not in use. For eight years, I have conducted tennis programs for homeschoolers in my county and I am currently working with local pros to develop tennis programs statewide. Our goal is to assemble teams which would compete locally and statewide, then nationally with a national championship homeschool tennis team. There s been tremendous response to this program. I m so excited! - Cathy Harris, Highland Rim Tennis Association Great Idea: FREE Tennis Coloring & Activities Book Free supplements to junior tennis programs can be downloaded at A free 32-page Tennis Coloring & Activities Book allows kids to color pictures and solve puzzles and word games while they learn about the ready position, forehands, backhands, serves, overheads, topspin, volleys, the racket, the court, scoring and more! The book even includes a cutout tennis postcard that kids can send to a friend. Another free download, a fun music video My 1 st Tennis Class, shows kids how much fun it is to take tennis lessons. - Dale LePrevost Page 4 of 5

5 Great Idea: Movie Premier Fundraiser To raise money, a CTA partners with a local theater and hosts the premier of a new movie. Tickets are sold for a premium fee, with light beverages and appetizers served. Our CTA has done really well with this fundraising event and is in its second year of hosting one. - Maria Lirio, Puerto Rico Tennis Association Page 5 of 5