Tennis - dead or alive??

nicebutdim

A bit off topic I know, but I played lots of tennis in my younger days ( upto about 15 years and 4 stone ago...blaming the kids for that! )....Winter / Summer leagues and a few tourneys. Is it just me or has tennis died on its [EMAIL="ar@e"]ar@e[/EMAIL] in terms of popularity?? Its a shame

Rob2D

Well you couldn't really expect it to be big over here. It can't compete with the GAA and soccer or even rugby which has gotten quite big in recent years. I think a lot of people still view it as an upper class thing too. My club is always pretty busy but outside that I see what you're saying.

bing3

Aye tis a pity. Most juniors seem to desert the game at 15 or 16 (blokes epecially) and i can see why. At that age unless youve had a bunch of coaching theres not so much competition to join in on. Most under 18s arent allowed play senior tournaments unless theyre in the top division which is frankly ridiculous. Until you get the juniors coming through tennis unfortunately is always going to be a marginalised sport.

nicebutdim

Very true about the other sports...Interesting to see how much the price of tennis recquets has fallen. I remember buying a Wilson Profile back in the early 90's and it was the best part of 150 notes ( pounds!) - what was I thinking !. Maybe technology has moved on but it seems you can buy a fairly decent one for about 50 quid these days. I think one of the benefits of tennis is that ages mix together and it can be a way to teach kids how to act with adults

BTW....anyone know of a decent club in the Rush / Lusk /Skerries / Balbriggan area where I can scrape away the cobwebs please?

nicebutdim

In relation to losing kids out of the game, there isn't really much to keep them in it unfortunately unless there is a good lively ladder system in the local club. There were (are?) tournaments like the Wexford Open which used to be on over the August bank holiday weekend ... great fun but you'd need a strong liver.

Tennis was always very poor at retaining kids. At least now, there appears to be more being done to try to do it

tipper1

I don't know much about the runnings of tennis at a national level but I do play on a local club team during the 'summerish' months.

Speaking only from my experience of the club scene here !
I find it a very sociable game and enjoy the mix of people (various ages, occupations, etc)
There is a league run annually by a couple of dedicated people (I think there is just a few everywhere) which works pretty well but it is only for approx 2 months. It also doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
It is a pity there is not a national club league system which teams compete within their respective grades at county/regional level, onto provincial and then national level. Also I don't think the club grading system is all that great.
There needs to be a grading system and leagues for all grades and allow the club player to work their way up.

I could be totally wrong because as I say I don't know much about it, it's just form my own experience.

nicebutdim

tipper1 wrote: »

I don't know much about the runnings of tennis at a national level but I do play on a local club team during the 'summerish' months.

Speaking only from my experience of the club scene here !
I find it a very sociable game and enjoy the mix of people (various ages, occupations, etc)
There is a league run annually by a couple of dedicated people (I think there is just a few everywhere) which works pretty well but it is only for approx 2 months. It also doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
It is a pity there is not a national club league system which teams compete within their respective grades at county/regional level, onto provincial and then national level. Also I don't think the club grading system is all that great.
There needs to be a grading system and leagues for all grades and allow the club player to work their way up.

I could be totally wrong because as I say I don't know much about it, it's just form my own experience.

I'm not sure where you are, but I know that in dublin, there are inter-club leagues run in the Summer and Winter. There were 7 grades with a kind of promotion/relegation etc, and it pretty much covered all standards.... It's all pretty sociable but you do get some sods, as with all competitive sports.... Summer league used to be teams of 6, and you'd get a game of singles and doubles. I've posted a link below relating to Leinster. I'd be surprised if there wasn't something similiar elsewhere

http://www.dltc.net/

Hope this helps....

Rob2D

My own club, http://www.ennistennis.com/, sometimes lets the Juniors play in the Senior competitions and also upped the time Juniors must be off the courts to 8.p.m. which I think is good. We also have a fairly active calendar as far as I know. But what I do seem to notice is some kids playing with parents/coaches who don't seem to enjoy it at all. I fear a lot of kids are pushed into it, as it can be a potentially lucrative sport. I think this is very wrong and perhaps why they leave when they get the chance.

Also, @nicebutdim, I'm not sure where you saw good racquets for €50 but I'm sure I know a couple of guys who'd love to know. I recently spent €180 on a Kpro Staff 88. A bit pricey but it is a beautiful stick.

nicebutdim

Rob2D wrote: »

My own club, http://www.ennistennis.com/, sometimes lets the Juniors play in the Senior competitions and also upped the time Juniors must be off the courts to 8.p.m. which I think is good. We also have a fairly active calendar as far as I know. But what I do seem to notice is some kids playing with parents/coaches who don't seem to enjoy it at all. I fear a lot of kids are pushed into it, as it can be a potentially lucrative sport. I think this is very wrong and perhaps why they leave when they get the chance.

Also, @nicebutdim, I'm not sure where you saw good racquets for €50 but I'm sure I know a couple of guys who'd love to know. I recently spent €180 on a Kpro Staff 88. A bit pricey but it is a beautiful stick.

I suppose I am out of the loop quite a while now....from a distance, they looked decent, but there ya' go. Won't be buying again for a while....I bought 2 lovely Wilsons in Singapore Duty free on the way back from my honeymoon ( ah yes...Celtic Tiger, I remember you fondly ) 10 years ago and have played all of twice since

Rob2D

Well, welcome back to the game. I hope you brought your wallet! :pac:

Need2Know4Sure

When i was younger i rem there used to a lot of "pay and play" courts.

Now in most areas these courts have disappeared and its mainly clubs that exist.

I think if there more open courts the sport would be more popular.

Rob2D

True.

average_runner

When i was younger used to play the tournaments in wexford, enniscrothy, carlow and Kilkenny.

Did the senior opens for awhile down there too. College had no real tennis team so ended up packing it in.

Took it up again in Dublin a few years ago but fell apart again.

No club in Lucan but maybe some day i go back to it.

Used to love coaching the kids in the park tennis

Rob2D

And another thing about tennis in this country. Why the hell are all the courts outside? If I was building a court the first thing I'd stipulate is that it be INDOORS!

Floppybits

I would be one of the people who played tennis up till I was 21 or so but drifted away from it. The main reason is the cost of membership of a club and to me this is the only way you can play all year round. Tennis is an expensive sport, say compared to GAA or soccer (even though I think soccer is starting to catch up) which can put people off.

When I was younger the only time you would really get to play was in July when the dublin parks tennis coaching was on, the courts would be full of kids, either getting coaching and playing amongst each other. As soon as july was over that was it the racquets went back under the bed or into the shed till the next year.

For Tennis to grow in this country it needs to become more affordable and not just for people with a bit of cash and the need to attract people all year round. As I am looking at the price of membership to clubs and one club I looked at was looking for close on a €1000 to join, thats just nuts.

Rob2D

Unfortunately you can't really make it cheaper. If you're serious about your tennis then you'll want good gear. Although if you get good stuff it should last you. But membership fees will probably never come down as running a club is quite pricey. Courts cost ridiculous money each year to maintain.

rebel girl 15

I live near enough a small tennis club and I'd consider it a summerish sport. I have to go pass it when I'm going to the local GAA pitch for training (which I nearly do every night) and I'd see people there playing most nights, whereas a month ago, I wouldn't have seen half as many people around

I was thinking of taking it up, what would be an average cost of membership??

Floppybits

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

I live near enough a small tennis club and I'd consider it a summerish sport. I have to go pass it when I'm going to the local GAA pitch for training (which I nearly do every night) and I'd see people there playing most nights, whereas a month ago, I wouldn't have seen half as many people around

I was thinking of taking it up, what would be an average cost of membership??

I know the club I am joining which is not that big the membership is €180 for the year and the €150 Joining fee. This can go up depending on the club. I was looking at another club and their fees were close to a €1000 but then they has indoor courts. Best thing to do is ask the club?

rebel girl 15

Floppybits wrote: »

I know the club I am joining which is not that big the membership is €180 for the year and the €150 Joining fee. This can go up depending on the club. I was looking at another club and their fees were close to a €1000 but then they has indoor courts. Best thing to do is ask the club?

I'll do that and see, just wanted to know a ball part figure, I'd love to try the sport but I'd be afraid I wouldn't have the time for it, involved in too many other things and that the membership would end up going down the drain

Floppybits

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

I'll do that and see, just wanted to know a ball part figure, I'd love to try the sport but I'd be afraid I wouldn't have the time for it, involved in too many other things and that the membership would end up going down the drain

I've been there. Use to play tennis a lot during the summers but then the GAA season would start after the All Ireland and that would put tennis on the back burner but one good thing about a club is that you can play all year round, plus clubs have teams in them as well and do play in leagues, well I know they do in the Dublin. Since I am now too old for football, I am back to tennis full time.

Paddy2309

Tennis has incredible potential to become a lot more popular in Ireland. For me the keys would be:

- Ireland to produce a world class player to increase media exposure
- Irish Open with increased prize money to get recognisable names over to the country
- Improvement of the university tennis system in Ireland. There should be proper university leagues between UCD, TCD, DCU, UCG, UCC, UL, Queens, DIT, etc. rather then just intervarsities and playing in senior winter leagues during college terms. This would encourage increased play for all levels and less likelihood of the best players going away on scholarships to the US.
- Ditto for the schools tennis system
- Well kept public courts open all year round in all towns that people know about
- Costs of equipment minimised- a system of second hand rackets, cheaper balls (see Walmart in America)
- As someone mentioned there is an incredible gap between ages in tennis clubs. People seem to stop playing at age 18 and take the game back up in their 30s; I'm 25 and the nearest people in age to me playing at a decent level are early 30s or juniors. Crazy! Investigate why this....
- A formalised, transparent national ranking system across all classes would help create interest for those in the game

It goes without saying all of the above take time, money, effort and luck. Tennis is just another sport in Ireland that could do with more funding to increase exposure, I can think of numerous others. Maybe sports funding and the levels of spending on a couple of sports needs to be revisited slightly...?

Rob2D

You're 100% right there Paddy. But it'll never happen because its seen as a foreign sport.