Let me give you some examples of how the OTA will achieve those expectations, starting with
GOAL #1: Attract More People to Play and Support Tennis on a Sustained Basis
Summary of Strategies
- Tennis promotion, raise awareness
- Digital strategy
- Grassroots participation
- Encourage casual play
- Enhance OTA member club structure & value-add proposition
- Provide a more comprehensive and accessible Resource Centre (new) for member-clubs – requires club input to stay relevant. This will be unveiled at the upcoming AGM (see below)
- The Kids’ Tennis school program will continue to introduce progressive tennis to new schools and connect them with board members and club instructors to help promote the club membership and programs – 34K participants, 23 inner city schools, 402 new teachers for 2012
- Grassroots promotion: New inflatable smash cage at special events (CNE, Ottawa), partnership with Tennis Canada on Little Aces programming in designated regions (STF Scarborough and possibly Ottawa in 2013)
- Enhance and expand the OTA Premium Member Club program. Increase sponsors and expand outside of the GTA
- Improved club communications to maintain brand awareness and OTA member benefit offerings. Encourage clubs to better communicate benefits to their own members via club website (eg: MTC) – 7 new clubs in 2012, 20+ targeted for 2013
- Take advantage of regional representation and programs/funding they offer. Do you know who your regional chair is or what they offer? eg: North Central and Southwest offer rebates to run tournaments, subsidies for instructor training
- OTA Members’ Day coming up in May – 815 participants in 2012
- Assist clubs and regions in improving relations with municipalities (eg: Ottawa, Mississauga)
- Pilot training programs to regions focused on club operations and enhancing programs – eg: How the Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) model and the 8 stages of development can be integrated into club programming
By the way, at this year's OTA AGM, set for April 13, we have planned for three (3) breakout sessions for members to attend, one of which will be presented by me and cover detail on the strategic plan with specific examples and time for Q&A, similar to what I've provided with Goal #1 above. I encourage member clubs to attend this AGM and take advantage of the time to network with fellow club executives and attend these seminars. The other two seminars include a discussion on how to attract new members to your club, and a review of a set of generic bylaw templates for both incorporated and unincorporated clubs.
We will also demo our new OTA Resource Centre available exclusively to OTA member clubs and academies. It will contain a growing selection of templates and documents that clubs will find useful. We are hoping many clubs will also be willing to share some of their best programs and articles on the library to make it even more relevant to our members.
An AGM information packet will be mailed to your club mailing address no later than March 22nd. I look forward to seeing you there!
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