Tennis Europe President Vladimir Dmitriev delivered good news at yesterday’s European Regional Meeting in Lisbon, which was attended by delegates from 44 nations. Mr. Dmitriev announced that he had recently secured two new sponsors for Tennis Europe and that the resulting €88,000 income will provide the first installment for the newly created ‘Tennis Europe Fund.’ The Fund will operate independently from the International Tennis Federation and benefit all European member nations for their development and junior activities.
Vice President Attila Richter then led a discussion about the European aspects of the upcoming ITF Board elections, due to take place on Friday. A total of 17 European candidates are contesting a maximum of 6 spots for Europe on the ITF Board of Directors, while the presidential election will see incumbent president Dave Haggerty challenged by Ivo Kaderka (CZE), Anil Khanna (IND) and Dave Miley (IRL). There followed a discussion about the importance of regional representation of Tennis Europe members on the Board of the ITF.
CEO Thomas Hammerl pointed out the importance of the work carried out by all National Federations for the tennis ecosystem and mentioned that Tennis Europe aims to stand up for, and restore respect to, the National Federations and their executive and volunteer staff. "It is the focus of Tennis Europe to strengthen and unite the continent and to be a role model for other Regional Associations," he said.
Mr. Hammerl also updated the assembly on the new Strategy and gave an overview of various new projects, including:
- Tennis Europe Junior School
- Training Academy in Prostejov
- Upgraded conferences for the member nations
- Increased social media activities
- Statistics on European junior tennis
Mr. Dmitriev commented, “We are grateful to the ITF for the opportunity to meet here in Lisbon and are happy to see such high attendance from our member nations. 2019 has been a particularly busy year for Tennis Europe with a number of new projects undertaken, and we have been pleased by the feedback so far. We also had a frank and fruitful discussion about this week’s elections, which once again illustrated the importance of a strong and united European tennis family.”