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| Overview |
| Grand Slam® Development Fund |
| Olympic Solidarity |
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| ITF/GSDF Player Development Pathway |
 | | Wayne Black presenting at the 17th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas in Egypt |  | | Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) Wimbledon finalist in 2008 |  | | Mini Tennis in Kiribati |  | | ITF Training Camp in Central Asia |  | | The Equipment Distribution Programme provides a limited amount of basic tennis equipment |
The ITF/GSDF Player Development Pathway is funded by the ITF and the Grand Slam® Development Fund, which is itself funded by the Grand Slams and administered by the ITF Development Department.
During the period 1986 - 2011 US$79 million has been invested in tennis development activities in 150 countries worldwide. In 2011, US$ 4.55 million was spent on the Development Programme with US$ 2.32 million being invested by the ITF and the balance of US$1.88 million contributed by the Grand Slam® nations to the Grand Slam® Development Fund partly from proceeds generated from the ATP World Tour Finals.
With the aim of raising the level of tennis worldwide and increasing the number of countries competing in mainstream international tennis, the ITF/GSDF Player Development Pathway includes a broad range of initiatives in less developed countries ranging from the grass roots to Grand Slams. Activities include ITF/Grand Slam® touring teams, funding for junior and professional tournaments, funding for tennis facilities, travel grants for talented players, training centres and coaches education, the supply of tennis equipment and the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative – a 14 & Under player development programme, which encompasses Tennis 10s (School Tennis Initiative) and High Performance programmes.
Special emphasis has been placed on junior tennis where regional tournament circuits have been developed and teams of young players compete outside their own region. In 2011, 23 regional junior events were supported by the Development Programme, providing much needed competition for the best players in the 18, 16, 14, 13 and 12 & Under age groups across the globe (Central America & Caribbean, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Pacific Oceania).
Players who perform well at these regional circuits are invited to join an international touring team. The touring team programme aims to facilitate the transition of talented players through regional and international competitions and onto the professional ranks. In 2011, there were 22 ITF/Grand Slam® Touring Teams involving over 168 players from 76 different countries. Former ITF/Grand Slam® Touring Team members include: Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), Nicolas Massu (Chile), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador), Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (India), Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia), Eleni Daniilidou (Greece), Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco), Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand), Cara Black (Zimbabwe), Jarkko Nieminen (Finland), Florin Mergea (Romania), Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus), Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine), Viktoria Azarenka (Belarus), Uladzimir Ignatik (Belarus) and Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania).
Travel grants are also awarded to talented players from developing nations for a specific programme of tournaments. In 2011, 32 players from 21 countries benefited from grants to play in events outside their country. In addition, prize-money grants are awarded to assist developing nations with the hosting of entry-level professional events for men and women, to help provide competitive opportunities throughout the world. In 2011, the Fund provided grants for 20 weeks of Men’s professional events and 16 weeks of ITF Women’s circuit events.
Coaches’ education continues to be a priority, and with more and more ITF member nations keen to put in place their own coaches certification programme, the ITF's role is to help them become self-sufficient by helping to run courses, assessing coaches, selecting future course tutors and making sure the latest coaching information is easily accessible to them. To date, more than 80 countries worldwide are using the ITF's recommended Level 1 and Level 2 syllabi as part of their own programme.
In 2011, 78 coaches’ courses were held including 17 Play Tennis courses, 22 Level 1 courses, 13 Level 2 courses and 5 Level 3 courses. The ITF’s coaches education flagship event, the 17th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas, was held in Port Ghalib, Egypt in November 2011. The biennial event attracted more than 500 coaches from 100 countries. Keynote speakers in attendance at the five-day conference included former Grand Slam doubles champion Wayne Black (ZIM) who made a presentation on doubles drills and tactics; Kim Clijsters’ coach Carl Maes (BEL) talked about periodisation for tennis players; Ann Quinn (AUS) made a presentation on the psychology of injury, and Miles Maclagan (GBR), former coach of Andy Murray, spoke about the challenges of working with top players on the tour.
The ITF Equipment Distribution Programme provides tennis equipment and educational materials to approved national programmes. During 2011 approximately 4,776 rackets, 4,250 mini-tennis bats and 139,560 balls as well as nets and strings were distributed to more than 95 countries worldwide.
The implementation of the Player Development Pathway relies on the work of the ten ITF Development Officers who are ‘out in the field’ advising and assisting national associations on their activities. They spent an average of 30 weeks on the road working with national associations, players and coaches in more than 100 countries to develop the game:
Amine Ben Makhlouf - Development Officer, West and Central Africa
Thierry Ntwali - Development Officer, East Africa
Riaan Kruger - Development Officer, Southern Africa
Cecilia Ancalmo - Development Officer, Central America
Anthony Jeremiah - Development Officer, Caribbean
Miguel Miranda - Development Officer, South America
Gene Ridgway - Development Officer, Pacific Oceania
Suresh Menon - Development Officer, Asia
Farah Dayoub - Development Officer, West Asia
Hrvoje Zmajic - Development Officer, Europe
Please refer to the PDF documents below should you wish to access a brochure on the ITF/GSDF Player Development Pathway in English, French or Spanish, or the ITF Development Programme Annual Reports from 2004 - 2010 (inclusive) in English.
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