LTA unveils new inclusion strategy for tennis in Britain

BRITAIN on Thursday (20) published a new inclusion strategy for tennis in Britain, with an ambition to lead the way on inclusion and diversity in sport.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the national governing body of tennis in Britain, wants to embed a culture of inclusion within all aspects of the sport, with the ultimate goal being to ensure that people playing, working and volunteering in, and watching tennis reflect the diversity of the nation’s communities.

The strategy sets out five key areas of work with 25 commitments to drive change, underpinned by 46 priority actions that will help make the ambition of the strategy a reality, an official statement said.

The association also appointed Sanjay Bhandari and Anil Jhingan to serve as new non-executive directors on the LTA board, it added.

Bhandari is the Chair of inclusion and anti-discrimination charity, Kick it Out, and a trustee of both the Aleto Foundation and Greater Sport, Manchester, with extensive experience in the professional services industry, building several businesses and leading strategic change programmes.

Jhingan brings to the LTA over 20 years’ experience in leadership roles in the media and entertainment sector. He is currently executive vice president, corporate development at Discovery, where he is responsible for leading the group’s strategic growth and expansion opportunities across EMEA and APAC. He also currently serves on the board of Formula E, and has previously held senior executive roles at Sky and 21st Century Fox.

As full members of the LTA board, which is chaired by Lord Mervyn Davies, they will advise, guide, challenge and support the LTA executive team in their delivery of key strategic programmes, the statement added.

The appointments follow the conclusion of an open recruitment process for the roles, and build upon the recent appointment of seven new board–nominated Councilors to the LTA Council, and the establishment of the LTA’s new IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) group -a forum to listen to and engage with diverse representatives from across tennis.

Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive, said: “We know that we still have further to go in order to reflect the diversity of the communities we represent through all areas of tennis in Britain, however this strategy will help ensure inclusion is kept at the heart of our sport. We want tennis to be a leader in this area, but to make this a reality I encourage every tennis player, coach, official, volunteer, fan and colleague to help us make inclusion something that is just the norm in our sport.

“As the national governing body it is our role to lead the way in driving change, and we were incredibly pleased to be able to bring in high calibre additions to our Board and Council."

The LTA have compiled a detailed analysis of current diversity data across different roles in tennis, with a commitment to collecting, tracking and publishing new data on an annual basis to provide transparency on progress.

Rachel Baillache, LTA board inclusion & diversity champion, said: “The actions we have put in place as part of our vision of tennis opened up over the past few years are already beginning to impact diversity in our sport positively. But we know there is much more to do, and this strategy sets out how we will go about driving the change that is needed across the whole of tennis. It is about long-term, cultural change, and we will not be satisfied until we have achieved that”.

For more details- www.lta.org.uk/inclusion.