Tennis Europe recently organised a first-ever seminar for the referees working on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour. During the weekend of 13-14 April no less than 36 officials from 13 different member nations gathered in Vienna, Austria, to discuss topics related to the organisation of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour’s 12, 14 and 16 & Under events.
“I am really positively surprised at the high turn-out,” said Anders Wennberg, ITF European Officiating Officer, who conducted the seminar together with Werner Hötzinger, who supports Tennis Europe with Tournament Planner (TP) and officiating matters related to the tour. “When we initially talked about organising the seminar, we didn’t know if we would get 5 or 50 applications, so reaching 36 is very encouraging, not least considering that attendance was completely voluntary’.
The seminar – which was free of charge - covered the entry, sign-in and draw procedures, working with the Tennis Europe version of TP (EurTP) and how to take care of various situations during a tournament. A few years ago the tour was re-launched with a fully web-based interface for players and organisers, including central entries and withdrawals, on-line fact sheet generation, connection to EurTP, a new ranking system, and totally rewritten regulations, so there is a lot to take in for the officials.
It is estimated that the 36 officials in attendance are currently involved with over one-third of the 330+ events for players aged 12, 14 and 16 & Under on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.
Given the positive feedback and remarks from the officials, Tennis Europe will now look into the possibility to reach even more referees with a future seminar.