Troubled tennis finds new face to serve up fresh image

Salvage job: Skating star Kurt Browning solves Tennis Canada's problem of giving the sport a recognizable face, but can Browning help make over the sport's elitist image?

Unable to come up with a recognizable star of its own, Canadian tennis has resorted to skating hero Kurt Browning to help pull it out of a popularity tailspin.

Saddled with a 1960s elitist, country-club image, tennis across Canada has lost as many as 25 per cent of its players since 1991, according to Bob Moffatt, president of Tennis Canada, the sport's national governing body.

In Ontario, provincial association executive director Peter Budreo says his memberships have fallen from 41,000 to 33,000 in the past five years.

In the national capital region, some clubs have shown modest increases or are holding their own, but most are losing players. In Nepean, the 12 clubs operating out of city-owned facilities had 4,752 members in 1991. By 1995, membership had dwindled to 3,330.

Enter Browning.

Starting in May, the former world figure-skating champion and tennis novice will star as a tennis-for-fun player in one of a series of televised public-service announcements designed to sell the game as easy-to-learn enjoyment for the whole family.

Why use Browning ahead of the nation's best tennis players?

"We picked Kurt because he is a real Canadian hero and skating is a very hot property with a huge public following," says Moffatt. "We believe, when kids see Kurt is excited about tennis they'll say, 'Hey, I think this is a good game, let's get into it.'

"This is not to say we wouldn't use Canadian tennis stars in the future. But right now, top players like (Canadian Davis Cup member) Daniel Nestor do not have the public profile Kurt Browning does."

Tennis Canada development director Robert Bettauer goes further. "Tennis has had such an elitist and exclusive image, we intentionally brought in Browning to show it as being accessible and fun. There will be a time when we will use our tennis players. But the reality is, many more Canadians know Browning than Nestor."

The program targets community clubs run by volunteers on municipally owned courts. Tennis Canada is shipping its package to the provinces in the next month. It includes:

- A four-minute video promoting the game as a fun, family activity with a strong fitness element;

- A community tennis guide outlining how to promote a club, recruit and keep members. The guide also offers an instant-tennis-in-six-lessons program to teach people how to pick up the game and enjoy it quickly;

- The first official rating system to gauge experience and ability. It allows players to pick partners of approximately the same standard.

Budreo's claim that tennis is no longer "elite or overly expensive" is backed by the facts.

Membership in a typical community club in city parks across the region runs at between $ 85 and $ 130 for a family membership and between $ 20 and $ 35 for juniors (under 18).

Update

The issue: Canadian tennis fights declining interest.

Then and now: Clubs registered with the Ontario Tennis Association averaged 213 players per club in 1983, 186 per club in 1991 and 153 per club in 1995.

What's next: Tennis Canada and 10 provincial associations expect to spend more than $ 500,000 in 1996 as start of four-to-five-year program promoting the game at the grassroots.-