LTA Increases Centre Funding

The Lawn Tennis Association has increased the financial support it gives its
high performance centres, enhancing the backing of its technical programmes for
up and coming players.

The move is part of the organisation’s new strategy for the sport as outlined
in its forwad-looking ‘Blueprint for British Tennis’ manifesto.

The support package provides the centres with access to enhanced technical,
sports science, specialist men’s and women’s and facilities advice, as well as
full access to the National Tennis Centre. It also provides substantially
increased funding support for the centres between 2007 and 2009 taking the LTA’s
total annual investment in these institutes from £1.2 million to £3.4 million.

The funding rise will help reduce the costs currently met by performance
players and their parents, reducing an identified barrier to success. 

Roger Draper, Chief Executive of the LTA, said: ‘We’ve spent time with the
centres reviewing what’s needed and have identified a number of areas where we
need to support their work better. We believe these enhanced packages, including
advice from experts like Steven Martens and Dr Ann Quinn in our team, will boost
High Performance Centres’ ability to get more people winning. They will also
help to reduce the costs borne by players and their parents to an absolute
minimum, especially for the top-rated players in each age group.’