LTA Unveils Diversity And Inclusion ‘idea’ Group
The LTA has created a new diversity and inclusion group, bringing together nearly 50 people from all areas of the sport to advise the governing body on a range of issues.
The IDEA Group – standing for ‘inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility’ – will allow the LTA to draw on a diverse range of views and experiences, and is made up of diverse representatives from across the tennis community, including players, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans. The governing body says the group includes people who have had a wide range of ‘lived experiences, positive and negative, around inclusion and diversity in tennis’.
Members of the group have already come together through a series of three focus groups held before and after Christmas, and will have the opportunity to play a role in helping to ensure inclusion and diversity is kept at the heart of the sport in the future – helping to shape and drive forward the implementation of the LTA’s forthcoming strategy, and checking and challenging its work in this area.
The LTA says the formation of the group is the latest in a series of actions it is taking ahead of the publication of its new inclusion and diversity strategy later this year, and follows a number of open letters published by LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd in which he committed to ensuring the LTA would listen to voices within the sport before putting in place a number actions to drive equality in tennis. The governing body says the majority of IDEA Group members were among those who responded to the open invite in those letters to get in touch and share their views.
“We are really excited to have been able to bring together such a fantastic and diverse group of people to form the IDEA Group, and we’d like to thank everyone who has volunteered to be part of it,” said Vicky Williams, People Director, The LTA.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to listen to people who have views to express and experiences to share, and establishing this group is a clear demonstration of that. It is great to hear the positive feedback we have had from group members on the sessions we have already held, which from our perspective proved to be both incredibly inspiring and valuable in helping us to develop our forthcoming inclusion and diversity strategy.”
Kate Maurici, Co-Director of Sheen Parks Tennis and IDEA group member said: “I put my name forward for the IDEA group because I saw it as an opportunity to use my experience of delivering Community Tennis to make a difference to a wider group across the country and ask difficult questions, challenging the current status quo. I would like to see the group help to implement some innovative and effective changes to tennis, opening it up further to under-represented groups.”
Alongside the formation of the IDEA Group, the LTA has already announced steps to enhance its governance and leadership, with processes currently underway to recruit new members of both the LTA Council and LTA Board who can ‘positively contribute to the diversity of thoughts, ideas and approaches’ needed to achieve the governing body’s accessibility and inclusion initiative ‘Tennis Opened Up’.
