Fiend at Court Unplugged
This weekends Fiend at Court Unplugged series was prompted by an inquiry from the National Women’s Tennis Organization (NWTO). The specific ask was for information and suggestions from former junior players, who stepped away from the sport but returned after an extended absence.
The NWTO is focused on national and international competition. The focus on former juniors is because those are the players that are most likely to be “turn-key” ready to play nationally in short order. I know that the organization also recognizes that it is possible for players who never competed as juniors can also rise to the national competitive level.
There is a former WNBA player who took up tennis for the first time as an adult competing in home section of Texas. The 5.0 leagues in my region are littered with former collegiate soccer players. There are many examples of players competing successfully at the highest levels of tennis who did not grow up with the sport.
After spending the weekend reflecting on how to entice junior players back into competitive tennis, I have come to the realization that the idea that marketing tennis to former players versus marketing tennis to people who are new to the sport is a false dichotomy. Campaigns that are effective for one demographic are likely to also be effective for the other.
For today I am choosing to focus very narrowly on how to specifically attract former juniors back to playing tennis. That is a necessary first step before taking up the matter of how to attract all highly competitive players to Category 1 — soon to be Level 1 — tournament play. That will be a post for another day. This is a daily blog, after all.
Idea #1. Competitive Play Evaluations
When I resumed playing and realized that I needed to step up my tennis training and practice, my most significant challenge was figuring out where I fit into the current tennis eco-system. There isn’t an established place to go for practical and unbiased guidance.
When I was casting about for options, I found many opportunities for beginner and advanced beginner tennis lessons. Clearly those were not appropriate for me. Private lessons were not attractive either because I wasn’t looking to make changes in my game. A paid lesson is a pretty expensive way to gain access to a tennis pro for an opinion on current NTRP level and competitive play options. Former juniors are likely to have the perception that they don’t need lessons.
In 2020, the USTA ran an initiative where USPTA tennis professionals could have their annual dues reimbursed if they could provide documented evidence that they had introduced the sport to a certain threshold of new players. Teaching professionals and facilities should also be somehow incentivized to engage in the same way with former players.
The name definitely needs a little workshopping, but I would propose a program of “Competitive Play Evaluations.” This would be an opportunity for tennis players to engage with a tennis professional on the court for an assessment of playing level and to identify appropriate playing opportunities for that person.
Idea #2 Mentoring
Mentoring is a really big deal in the corporate environment. Essentially mentoring is pairing people together for guidance, motivation, support, and role modeling. It would take a lot of coordination, but it would be really cool if the NWTO had a cadre of mentors available to work directly via text or email with prospective returning juniors to help transitioning them back into competitive play.
Idea #3. Drop In Drills
One of the most glorious innovations in tennis is the “Drop-In Drill.” It is an opportunity to play tennis without requiring much in the way of advance planning or a long term commitment. It is a low friction way to get former players back onto a court with a racquet in their hands.
Idea #4. Parent-Child Tennis Lessons
There is generally going to be a drop in participation of players that have small children. The key for tennis is to keep those parents engaged in tennis during the times when family obligations prevent competitive tournament play. That makes it easier for those parents to re-engage with tennis once the kids reach the arbitrary age of independence.
Off the top of my head, my kids engaged in swimming lessons, structured play programs, music lessons, and zoo-camp outings that were structured in the parent-child format. I have always wondered why I have never seen a parent-child tennis class offered. Whether the parent has ever played tennis or not, instruction and experience on how to play tennis with a child would be a very valuable engagement mechanism.
Idea #4a. Parent Drills on the Side of Junior Programs
Closely related to the previous idea, I think it would be a terrific idea to have some sort of adult tennis opportunity on the side of junior tennis classes and development programs. I probably would have engaged in tennis sooner than I did if I had the opportunity to pick up a racquet rather than waiting in the car during my child’s lessons.
Idea #5. Hunt Them Down
I would hope that the USTA has some record of former junior players with their known addresses at the time they last played. If the USTA had sent “return to tennis” marketing materials to my childhood address, the umpire who gave birth to me most certainly would have passed it on to me.
When you think about it, with name and date of birth, the USTA should be able to purchase a likely current address for the vast majority of former players.
The section offices could post photos from junior events of yore to social media asking for assistance identifying former players and venues. I don’t think that it is beyond the art of the possible to find former players and send them periodic reminders of how awesome tennis can be.
Idea #6. Carpet Bombing
I have written about the need for critical mass in tennis tournaments. In short a certain number of players are needed for an event to occur. I think it would make sense to concentrate a direct mail marketing effort in areas with upcoming tournaments.
This is something I hope that the USTA starts doing in general. The caveat for this particular niche is that carpet bombing marketing materials need to deliberately speak to former players in addition to new prospective players.
Idea #7. Scholastic Tennis Team Reunions
Any place where there is a rivalry, there is an opportunity to restoke that rivalry to bring players back to the sport. I would love to reconvene former players from my high school alma mater to play a dual against players from our cross-town rivals.
This is one of those events that might even garner some press coverage which might spark interest in others to do the same.
Idea #8. Former Junior Human Interest Stories
In the past, I have been critical of the official magazine mailed out by the USTA for containing too much stale gossipy content on current professional players. Here is another content idea: Start running human interest stories on former players who have returned to the sport with part of that space. Make those articles freely sharable on social media.
First, those stories could be generalized social proof that returning to tennis is a fulfilling thing to do. The second way is that it provides an opportunity for players to reconnect with each other.
Summary
So there you have it. Eight and a half ideas for engaging former juniors in tennis. The NWTO would need help from the USTA in order to fully implement most of these ideas, but the organization is in a position to lobby the USTA to start such initiatives.
This is one of those situations where we need to get former players engaged in tennis. Period. I think that a large part of the problem is not that former players are not playing in tournaments, but rather that in many cases they are not playing at all.
I will pick up this topic again next Friday as a part of the Fiend at Court Unplugged series. Next Friday’s topic will start in on how to get the current player pool more engaged in the national level tournaments.
