TENNIS AUSTRALIA
Craig Tiley , the CEO of Tennis Australia , in a rare interview , talks at large about his leadership approach , his vision for the organisation he heads , and the potential tennis has to capture the imagination of a new generation
Why does tennis fascinate ? What lies behind its soaring popularity ? Clearly it has a lot to do with the game ’ s gladiatorial nature ; the spectacle of individual athletes contending for the big prizes and kudos of the top tournaments . At that level you could hardly call it a team sport , but as we have slowly begun to realise , star players only arise if there ’ s the right infrastructure - if children can get involved early on , and young people access good facilities and coaching .
Craig Tiley doesn ’ t seem to mind that he never made the big time as a player , having been a bit long in the tooth when he started playing in his native South Africa – at just 12 ! “ I had coaches that were very passionate about coaching and teaching and I learned as much about the passion as the technique ,” he admits . “ I was not a good enough tennis player to make a career of it but I didn ’ t mind that because I learned so many other things .” Well , you don ’ t get to captain the national Davis Cup team if you aren ’ t a mean player : that and the ‘ other things ’ he picked up about tennis are part of what makes him perhaps the highest profile leader in the sport today .
The Australian Open , with its 112-year history , starts the tennis year with a bang in January . Tiley has been running this event as Tournament Director since 2007 and since 2013 has combined this with the role of CEO of Tennis Australia ( TA ), the national governing body for the sport comparable to the Lawn Tennis Association in the UK . His path has not involved filling in too many
60 October 2017