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HONG KONG TENNIS ASSOCIATION
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Hong Kong Tennis Association Limited (HKTA) is the national body for the sport of tennis in HKSAR. Having served the Hong Kong tennis community for close to a century, HKTA’s main objects are, to create and maintain an environment conducive to the development of the sport, to regulate and update the game in parity with international standards, to act as ambassador for Hong Kong in tennis, to organize activities and competitions, and to nurture the talented in pursuit of excellence.
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Having just completed a period of consolidation and restructuring, nine major initiatives for advancement had been identified.
1. COACH EDUCATION
For tennis to excel in Hong Kong, good coaching is an indispensable prerequisite.
After 6 months of preparation a new ITF endorsed Coach Certification Scheme has been completed and launched in Hong Kong in October, 2002. There will be testing at each level with certification standards comparable with the world’s leading tennis nations.
2. COACH LICENSING SCHEME
The aim of the Licensing Scheme is to help coaches develop professionally and personally through the provision of a flexible program of continuous education in the form of clinics, forums, workshops and seminars held by HKTA at regular intervals every year. Coaches may also upgrade their qualifications by obtaining higher certifications under the new ITF-endorsed HKTA Coach Certification Scheme.
3. DEVELOP SCHOOLS TENNIS
Children in the early primaries will be exposed to mini-tennis, which basically is a fun game that can be turned into a sport of a lifetime. Through gradual progression debutants will move to tennis. Individual and inter-school competitions will be organized throughout the year for various age groups and levels.
The object in promoting tennis to young children is to endow them with the interests to ‘keep hitting forehands and backhands for the rest of their lives’. HKTA also believes that tennis is not only about winning, but that tennis as a recreation sport can help children develop their character, discipline, attitude, interpersonal and problem solving skills, as well as good sportsmanship.
4. DEVELOP COMMUNITY TENNIS
HKTA’s initiative is to encourage the growth of CTCs and assist in their development. By doing so, horizontal growth of the game can be accelerated and in time vertical growth can also be achieved.
By expanding schools and community tennis, HKTA is unequivocal that enormous benefits can be reaped both for tennis development in Hong Kong and for its community.
5. TRAIN FOR EXCELLENCE
In order that Hong Kong can produce better tennis players, HKTA will invite talented young players to join HKTA’s Talent Group and undergo intensive training.
To maximize the development potential of these young players, proper coaching must be given to them from a very young age. Programs should be structured in accordance with the different stages of a child’s development.
6. STRENGTHEN THE OFFICIATING TEAM
HKTA Officiating Committee, comprises a number of experienced officials, and the main objects are to upgrade the standard of officiating and provide education and certification channels for aspiring officials. A series of workshops and seminars will be conducted for new and existing officials.
7. CREATE A NATIONAL RANKING SYSTEM
For adults, although a player’s ranking system exists, it only caters to the top thirty or so players.
Competition and peer pressure are powerful influences that propel players to improve their skills. Competition may stimulate strive for excellence, but rankings stimulate competitions and the will to improve.
8. GROW THE HKTA MEMBERSHIP
The present HKTA membership comprises mainly tournament and league participants, divisible into the Adult and Junior categories. HKTA’s membership initiative aims to enhance the benefits of existing members and create new membership categories. The Association intends to explore potential membership growth areas in community tennis players, school children and coaches.
9. WEB SITE IMPROVEMENT
The HKTA Official Web Site www.tennishk.org is to be enhanced with on-line activities such as membership enrolment, tournament updating, draws and fixtures posting and results/players queries.
CONCLUSION
For tennis to excel in Hong Kong, a solid professional infrastructure must first be created, only then can the software be introduced to achieve the desired results. From coach certification and licensing to talent identification and training for excellence, the building blocks need to be installed piece by piece. With leadership provided by a dedicated team of highly motivated volunteers, the challenges may be enormous but successes would be doubly rewarding.
* Information & photos provided by the National Sports Association
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