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Stuart Smith, President of the LTA, outlines his thoughts on the changing times for British tennis…

Interviewer:
I’m here with the President of the Lawn Tennis Association, Stuart Smith, to talk about the Blueprint for British tennis.

Stuart, I want to start by asking you about the progress that has been made in British tennis in recent years, which I’ve heard you talk a lot about. Is this Blueprint a case of starting all over again?

Stuart Smith:
No, certainly not. In fact, I think British tennis over the last ten to twelve years has been making some real progress. What this Blueprint does is to build upon a firm foundation that has been created in a number of areas.

Firstly, our very large investment in the county structure and the way in which we professionalised our base at that level. Secondly, it has involved a great deal of facility development over the years, which I think is an area we can rightly be very pleased about. The physical face of British tennis has changed during this time. By ‘facilities’, I mean the creation of good tournament venues, better clubs, better sites on schools and so on and so forth.  And thirdly, in the last couple of years, we have effectively completely modernised the governance of the Association and I think we are now probably thought of as being a good, strong, modern governing body of sport. And that has enabled us really to make the changes that we have made this year, quite quickly.”

Interviewer:
So, there are some good foundations in place. What do you see as the role, therefore, of this Blueprint?

Stuart Smith:
I think the Blueprint really does two things,  Firstly, it analyses where we are at, honestly and openly.  And secondly, it provides the framework within which the direction of the Association of British tennis will now move.

Interviewer:
So that’s nice and clear. And obviously this whole microsite about the Blueprint is getting a good number of people to have a look and give feedback to the LTA…

Some tennis commentators have talked about the changes in British tennis happening too fast. How do you see this? And perhaps you could give us some insight to how your colleagues on the Board would view it…?”

Stuart Smith:
Well I think the Board would agree with me in saying that we have felt collectively for some time that the Association was in need of a very strong, firm, dynamic leadership – leadership that would be, on the one hand, directional and, on the other hand, motivational. And when there has been a slight lack of leadership, it is very important to put it in place as quickly as possible. So I don’t think the speed at which we have moved this year is anything other than appropriate in all the circumstances. We are now six months in, and we still have another four to five months to go before the National Tennis Centre opens and is occupied and I think this is probably not quite quickly enough.

Interviewer:
So, we are broadly on track and you are happy with the pace of change. How about when we go out into the counties and the face of British tennis, what is changing out there?

Stuart smith:
As I said at the top of this discussion, counties have improved a lot in recent years. I’ve recently just completed a visit around the vast majority of them and it is quite clear to me they have continued to improve. What this will do is to allow the counties to progress still further in the way in which they are providing the delivery of what we require in British tennis at a local level.

Interviewer:
Just changing tack a little here, Stuart… There has been a lot of interest in the changes that you are bringing about in British tennis from all around the world. How do your international counterparts view what is going on?

Stuart Smith:
I think with complete fascination. There is no doubt at all that British tennis and ‘The LTA’ has always had a very strong reputation in international tennis circles. I think a lot of people have wondered why British tennis hasn’t done better than it has. The way in which we have moved this year, with some of our early appointments, has provided international tennis with a great deal of interest and a great deal of discussion. I think international tennis wants British tennis to be really successful and they’re quite interested and pleased with what is going on at present.

Interviewer:
Obviously these changes don’t come for free, and you are investing a lot in the future of British tennis. Do you see a need to raise more funds in the future?

Stuart Smith:
Yes, there is a need to raise more funds, there is so much to do and I hope that we will do this by a combination of encouraging various agencies – whether it be Government or local Government – to participate and increase the funding.  But more particularly I think it is about time that we, at the Lawn Tennis Association, tried to exploit more commercial opportunities. So it will be a combination of increased funding from partnership and commercial sources, I hope.

Interviewer:
Stuart, thanks very much for taking time out of a very busy schedule.

Stuart Smith:
Thank you.

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