Tennis Growth
JOCK & JILL: Tennis most popular in B.C.
BY MEGAN STEWART, VANCOUVER COURIER, February 9, 2012
Tennis on the rise
Tennis is on an upswing in B.C. Two years ago, one in four Canadians considered themselves an avid tennis fan. Most recently, one in three of us cops to loving the sport. Read more
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Metro Vancouver is the top city in Canada for interest and participation in tennis.
Text below reproduced from the Tennis Canada web site, lovemeansnothing.ca.
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British Columbia a Hotbed for Tennis in Canada
Submitted by Scott on Mon, 04/04/2011 – 3:31pm
Toronto, April 4, 2011 – Tennis Canada and Tennis BC released Monday the results of an annual national research study that showed that British Columbia has the highest level of tennis participation amongst provinces and the most fan interest in the sport nationwide. More specifically, the Metro Vancouver area ranks tops in Canada amongst major metropolitan cities in these same statistical categories.
“This study is very encouraging for tennis in British Columbia as it indicates that people in our province have embraced tennis as a lifelong sport,” said John McMurchy, president, Tennis BC. “It is affordable, can be played at all skill levels, is supported as an outdoor activity in parks in most municipalities in the province and can be played by all members of a family. We are confident that these numbers will continue to grow with the help of emerging role models like Rebecca Marino and increased accessibility to indoor courts across the province.”
In terms of participation, 19 percent of the British Columbia population and 30 percent of Metro Vancouver played tennis last year*. This compares to 11 percent participation for all of Canada.
From the standpoint of fan interest in the sport, British Columbia ranks highest amongst all provinces with 14 percent of the population expressing avid interest in tennis. This number increases to 20 percent in Metro Vancouver versus nine percent for Canadians at large. Only hockey has more avid fans than tennis in Metro Vancouver. Furthermore, 20 percent of British Columbia and 27 percent of Metro Vancouver’s residents are hard core television viewers of tennis compared to 15 percent for the rest of the country.
“British Columbia has always been a leader for tennis development and grassroots participation,” said Hatem McDadi, vice-president, tennis development, Tennis Canada. “Lots of credit should be given to the leadership at Tennis BC and the clubs and community partners for promoting programs and lifestyles to help meet the needs of an active and healthy tennis community.”
British Columbia has a rich history of producing successful tennis talent. In addition to world No. 58 Marino, Davis Cup team member Vasek Pospisil, world No. 247 Philip Bester, top international junior prospect Filip Peliwo and ITF Top 5 wheelchair tennis athlete Sarah Hunter are all BC natives. Through the years, British Columbia also produced former world No. 1 doubles player Grant Connell and top WTA singles players Helen Kelesi and Sonja Jeyaseelan.
This study will continue to be conducted annually to assess tennis participation and fan interest in Canada.
*Participation number is defined as having played at least three times per year.
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Tennis is most often played at parks and on public courts (80 percent of people who have played in the past year). Tennis is perceived as a very accessible sport to all.
Survey by Charlton Strategic Research Inc., December 2008. This survey indicated that over four million Canadians played tennis last year. Read more here. For PDF of full report, click here.
Re: Health/Demographic Aspects
Tennis gives both cardio and strength workout and is a non-contact sport.
Tennis is very friendly to all age demographics.
The sport is equally played by both male and females, as well as all ethnicities.
Tennis can be played as a team or individually.
It is a sport that parents can play with their kids…whole families can play together.
Event Growth
In the past 3 years, events in BC have grown over 32% in participation.
Many community tennis associations have officially been formed to work with their city and district officials on tennis court growth and maintenance (Vancouver Island, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, South Okanagan).
The women’s world national team competition (Fed Cup) was brought back to BC for the first time in over a decade.
Provincial kids team tennis began from September to early December.
Read article about growth of public tennis facilities south of 49 in Forbes for September, 2008. Download PDF here.
