OCEANIA TENNIS FEDERATION ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Oceania Tennis Federation 2012 Officers President Mr G Pollard AM (AUS) Vice-President Dr W So’onalole (SAM) Secretaries General Mr S Baldovini (CAL) Mr J Shannon (FIJ) Executive Committee Mrs J Aguon (GUM) Mr C Mainguy (VAN) Mr W Sacault (PYF) Mr S Johns (NZL) Auditor Mr B McMillan Administration and Development Mr P O’Rourke – Executive Officer Mr J Shannon – Joint Executive Officer (from September) Mr G Ridgway – ITF Development Officer Pacific Oceania Member Nations American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, New Caledonia Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu Oceania Tennis Federation Annual Report 2012 President's Report 2012 It gives me great pleasure to present for your consideration the Annual Report of the Oceania Tennis Federation (OTF). Whilst this Report primarily covers the activities and highlights of the calendar year 2012, it will also be my last report as your inaugural President. Consequently I have added some references to the progress we have made as a Federation since our inauguration in 1993. The OTF is one of six Regional Tennis Federations recognised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in accordance with guidelines established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Each Regional Federation is entrusted by the ITF to oversee the development of tennis within its defined geographic area. The OTF covers a huge area consisting of the widely dispersed island nations in the Pacific Ocean. Travel and communication between the sparsely populated nations is infrequent and expensive and represents a unique challenge to the OTF and its Member Nations. The OTF consists of a Grand Slam Nation (Australia), another strong tennis nation (New Zealand), and has gradually grown to eighteen ITF Associate Member Nations and one member (New Caledonia) which is a member of the French Tennis Federation as well as the OTF. At the ITF, Australia has 12 votes, New Zealand has seven votes, but the other Associate Member Nations have no vote. New Caledonia is ineligible to become an ITF member in its own right. Under the OTF constitution each member is entitled to one vote regardless of size or tennis history. As full voting members of the ITF Australia and New Zealand compete in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup in their own right. Associate Members are not entitled to enter teams in the Davis Cup, but the ITF has given permission for the eighteen Associate Members of the ITF to enter a combined Pacific Oceania team in Davis and Fed Cup. Pacific Oceania has competed in every Davis Cup since 1995, but has not played in Fed Cup since 2004 due to our inability to attract our best female players as the dates clash with our player's commitment to intercollegiate tennis as part of their US University scholarships. In 2012 our Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team lost to the Philippines away in the first round and lost to Lebanon (also away) in the Group play-off. After some years in Asia/Oceania Group II, Pacific Oceania was consequently relegated to Group III for 2013. Providing sufficient competition opportunities for our best players remains an expensive challenge for the OTF and we were excited that New Caledonia filled the gap following the Pacific Games in 2011 by organising the Oceania (Teams and Individual) Championships in 2012 and including appropriate representation from Australia and New Zealand. We congratulate Australia on winning the Men's event and Samoa the Women's. Oceania Tennis Federation Annual Report 2012 Lautoka, Fiji continues to host the Air Pacific Oceania Closed Junior Championships, Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships, and the ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Championships. We thank Tennis Fiji for their continued commitment to and excellent organisation of these events which bring together our best juniors for regional competition. After twenty years of sponsoring and supporting our mini-tennis program in schools throughout the Pacific Oceania area, ANZ advised that 2012 would be be the concluding year of this sponsorship. Each year over 20,000 youngsters are introduced to tennis at school through this program. In 2013 the program will be brought into line with the ITF Mini-tennis program and a new sponsor sought. In February Dan O'Connell retired as ITF Regional Development Officer after twenty years of passionate service to the development of tennis in this region. In addition he helped the graduates of our Regional Tennis Centre obtain tennis scholarships to continue their education and tennis at American Universities or colleges. His place has been taken by Gene Ridgway who was previously Head Coach at the ITF Regional Training Centre in Lautoka. Andrew Mailtorok is the new Head Coach. The 2012 AGM was held in Lautoka for the first time and included resolutions to convert the OTF from an unincorporated Association into an incorporated society registered in New Zealand. There was also much discussion at Board and AGM level on the job description for the Executive Officer going forward. In particular the challenge of performing all the widely dispersed responsibilities was ultimately deemed impossible unless the position was split between two persons, one of whom needed to be based in Fiji and one in any member nation. After an extensive search, John Shannon (Fiji) and David Smith (NZ) were selected to become joint executive officers for two years from the 2013 AGM . As my 20 years as President of OTF come to a close, I would firstly like to thank the four organisations that have so strongly supported OTF throughout that period, namely the ITF, the Oceania Olympic Committee, the Grand Slam Development Fund and the ANZ. I also acknowledge the other sponsors during that period and our member nations Tennis Australia, Tennis New Zealand and the Ligue Caledonienne de Tennis for their support and guidance. Secondly I would like to thank the many people I have met and worked with at OTF at AGM and Board level who are not only colleagues but also become friends. I especially mention our retiring Executive Officer Pat O'Rourke, my loyal Vice President Moana, former ITF Development Officer Dan O'Connell, former joint Secretary General Fenton Coull and our Honorary Auditor Barry McMillan. Finally I wish the new President and his Board, the new joint Executive Officers and all the members of the OTF the best of luck in the future. So much has been achieved. Yet there is so much more to be done. Geoff Pollard President Oceania Tennis Federation Oceania Tennis Federation Annual Report 2012 OTF Executive Officer’s Report 2012 Overview Junior player development has continued to be the major focus of OTF over the past year. The calendar of ITF World Junior Circuit events in the region provides opportunities for players to take their first steps on the international stage and the ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Circuit with its sub-regional events helps prepare young players for the world circuits and assists in identifying talent for the ITF Regional Training Centre in Lautoka. The ANZ Bank sponsorship of the ANZ Bank Tennis Development Program entered its last year with programs in twelve nations. We welcomed new ITF Development Officer Gene Ridgway who in his first year has visited almost all nations in the Pacific. On the senior side New Caledonia hosted the second Oceania Championships and the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team played two tough away ties. Executive The executive committee met in Fiji the day before the 2012 AGM. In between times members of the committee have assisted with the various programs and administrative tasks throughout the region. Joint Secretary General John Shannon stepped down from the executive committee in September to take on the role of Joint Executive officer of OTF. Finance and Funding Support OTF, with the support from ANZ Bank and our principal funders ONOC and ITF and careful management of our teams and events, has improved its financial position to a healthy level. The Davis Cup team's participation in Group 2 has also helped to provide considerable income which will be lost in 2013. ANZ Bank continued its support for the mini tennis program in schools in the Pacific in 2012 but notified OTF early in the year that it would not renew when the current three year contract expired at the end of 2012. OTF was also the principal beneficiary of the 2012 ANZ Aces program run in conjunction with the Australian Open 2012 With the main focus of OTF being development in the Pacific, the extensive programs would not be able to operate without the support from ITF, Grand Slam development Fund and Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC). The matching grant program funded by ITF and ONOC supports Davis Cup and ITF Junior teams competitions, ITF junior events, Oceania Tennis Federation Annual Report 2012 OTF development officers and a host of other activities run by OTF. ONOC continues to make a very significant contribution towards the fees for scholarship holders at the Regional Training Centre in Lautoka, removing the burden from parents and national associations. OTF offers its sincere thanks to ONOC for their ongoing support. The Grand Slam Development Fund provides very important support in the competitions area for Pacific Junior players. The GSDF funds the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships and three qualifying events and also the annual teams to Australia and New Zealand, providing vital competition opportunities in Pacific Oceania. Junior players from Fiji and Papua New Guinea also received grants from GSDF in 2012 to assist with their competition programs. International Tennis Federation OTF continues to work very closely with ITF Director of Development Dave Miley and his team in London and with ITF Development Officer Pacific Oceania Gene Ridgway on a variety of projects including the Regional Training Centre, ITF development tours and the ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Championships.