LTA To Freeze Grass Roots Funding & Prioritize The Pro Game

Coming on the heels of Andy Murray’s title run at Wimbledon, sources told the newspaper that the LTA is planning to prioritize the pro game over grassroots tennis.

The LTA will announce that any club wanting to expand or improve its infrastructure will receive only interest-free loans rather than grants. Participation in tennis in Britain is said to be rising after Murray’s win, although Sport England reported earlier this year that the number of adults playing the game at least once a week since 2008 had fallen from 487,500 to 424,300.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/09/report-lta-set-freeze-grassroots-funding/49309/#.UkmRVT8QPH1

Can on ly mean one thing, knowing their subsistence is going to be cut dramatically, they have to protect their pensions and salaries.

I live the quote..."There is only a certain amount of money at the LTA and something has to give"

You can bet it 'll never be their wage income.

Meanwhile, Draper takes home £3 million smackers from our public purse for doing what exactly ?

I pity the new guy coming in, is it just a coincidence that he's inheriting a tactical procedure that would give King Midas a hard time financing a destitute coffer, just as Draper is leaving ?

I really hope Downey reverses this decision.

Why on earth do they not reward tennis clubs that increase participation, hence that is one of their objectives. This means current clubs will no doubt have to increase membership fees to keep afloat and borrow if they plan to expand to facilitate juniors or kids wishing to play. The LTA baffle me. They could meet objectives of the government in terms of having kids play sport and fight the fat and all that which in turn leads to the unlocking of......funds!!!

Come on LTA your not that stupid surely.

They're either playing the Austerity card or are genuinely concerned that the pay roll may get affected because of this reduced funding.

I can't for one second believe that they think this new idea is going to increase or encourage more tennis participation in the numbers needed to secure more funds from the public purse. Why now, when the trend is up given Murrays success and the Olympic interest that was generated last year, and at a time when this sport needs grass root funding more than ever to get the kids playing on courts with cheap or free equipment, especially the clubs, where the nurturing of talent is tantamount.

I think they really are that stupid LK, there is no long or short term logic to this decision and it will be a strategic nightmare for Downey to come into a job, knowing he had a certain amount to play with and then its cut dramatically, and will affectively be hamstrung and thrown into a barrel with no direction to head into.