When the Tennis Industry Association released its 2013 “State of the Industry” report, it revealed that tennis participation is at its highest level in four years with 28.04 million people playing tennis in the U.S.
The number of frequent players — those who play 21 or more times a year — grew more than 10 percent. Frequent players account for more than 70 percent of total expenditures in the sport and spend the most money on club memberships, lessons and equipment. Equipment spending went up 3 percent in 2012 at a total of $590 million, nearly triple that of all other players.
So, how do you get tennis players to keep coming to your clubs to play?
Start while they’re young. Many of the leading sport experts have concluded that getting children exposed to an activity before the age of 10 years old is essential to creating a lifelong participant.
Because continued growth is imperative to the sustainability of the tennis industry, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the industry’s collective efforts to grow youth tennis participation ramped up in 2012.
The “10 and Under Tennis” initiative is geared toward getting more kids to participate in tennis by using modified equipment and courts tailored to a child’s size. The result is half a million more kids aged 6 to 11 playing tennis in 2012 versus 2011, meaning 14 percent of U.S. children — or 3.7 million kids — played tennis last year.
In 2014, the tennis industry pooled its efforts to get kids playing by promoting Play Events and World Tennis Day, with more than 1,100 Play Events held across the country in March alone, more than double the amount from the year before.
The USTA helped facilitate the construction of permanent short courts and the lining of more than 4,600 courts for “10 and Under Tennis” play. The increase in these kid-friendly courts resulted in a 36 percent rise in junior team tennis participants and a 23 percent rise in “10 and Under Tennis” tournament participants from 2011. More than two-thirds of the facilities in the TIA study reported an increase in “10 and Under Tennis” play in 2012.
Two-thirds of tennis retailers also saw a significant spike in consumer interest from 2011 to 2012, and that same number expected future interest in “10 and Under Tennis” to gain traction in the next year.
By providing an early and positive experience, children learn to love physical activity and tennis for life. That’s why it’s important to have a credible tennis professional at your club who is knowledgeable about “10 and Under Tennis” and can engage children and their parents into playing the sport. The USTA recognized this when it launched the Coach Youth Tennis curriculum, a program that provides tennis-teaching professionals and coaches with free online courses on how to teach children to ensure they are having fun and will want to continue to play.
These events and programs, along with continued “10 and Under Tennis” education for tennis professionals, help provide families and children exposure to tennis in a fun environment and serve as a launch point for organizers and club owners to grow their tennis programming.
This nationwide initiative will help create a larger base of players for the future growth of the game and will foster increased family activity at your clubs or facilities. These are the children who will grow up into lifelong tennis players and become members of your clubs.
John Embree is CEO at the United States Professional Tennis Association and can be reached via email: john.embree@uspta.org or 713.978.7782, ext. 117.
