Executive Director of Tennis Development Dave Miley to leave ITF

After 24 years, Executive Director of Tennis Development Dave Miley has decided to leave the ITF for personal reasons at the end of December 2015.

Miley has visited over 140 countries worldwide and has played a key role in the development of tennis globally. He initiated many successful projects including Tennis10s that grew out of the ITF’s Play and Stay Programme.

With Miley’s innovative and creative approach, he worked hard to expand the education of tennis coaches worldwide, particularly with the launch of iCoach, the ITF’s official online coaching platform. Miley was very active over the years with the Worldwide Coaches Conference with another successful five-day conference last week in Turkey.

In 1993, Miley established the ITF Coach Education Programme and was author of both the Level One manual and co-author of the Advanced Coaches manual that is now available in over 20 languages worldwide. The Junior Touring Team programme proved very successful with many top-ranked players coming out of the teams, including Grand Slam Champion Victoria Azarenka (BLR).

ITF President David Haggerty said: “The outstanding work of the ITF’s Development Department and the contributions of Dave Miley are well known throughout the tennis world. Dave will leave a large legacy and we wish him well for the future.”

Former President Francesco Ricci Bitti added: “I worked with Dave Miley for the 16 years of my Presidency and before that as a member of the ITF Board of Directors. He has an excellent reputation both in the tennis world and the wider sports community for his innovative projects and energetic approach to Development.”

The ITF thanks Dave for his years of service and commitment to tennis.

Over 700 coaches to attend ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas

Over 700 coaches from 99 nations will attend this week’s 19th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas in Antalya, Turkey on 24-28 November. The event is being organised by the ITF and Turkish Tennis Federation (Turkiye Tenis Federasyonu) at the Hotel Riu Kaya Palazzo.

The ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference, which is held every two years, is the showpiece of the ITF’s Coach Education Programme. The five-day conference will bring together leading international experts in coach education, player performance and sport science to present on the latest developments in these fields through practical on-court coaching and lecture room presentations.

The theme of this year’s conference is ‘A Player Centred Approach to Long-term Development: Participation to Performance’. The presentations and workshops will relate to four distinct ages of player development:
1) 10 years & under (building phase)
2) 11-14 years (development phase)
3) 15-18 years (junior phase)
4) 19-23 years (transition to professional phase)

Keynote speakers will include British Fed Cup captain Judy Murray, former Belgian Fed Cup captain Carl Maes, and former Davis Cup players Dominik Hrbaty and Francisco Roig,

In addition to the main themes of the conference, the presentations and workshops will cover a wide variety of topics, including the ITF’s Tennis10s programme under the Tennis Play and Stay campaign banner, player development and participation programmes, performance analysis and athlete pathways, conditioning and injury prevention, psychology and wheelchair tennis.

Dave Miley, ITF Executive Director of Tennis Development, said: “We are delighted to see such a large number of coaches and speakers in attendance at this year’s ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference. This conference will address the importance of each stage of a player’s long term development, from the initial participation programmes through to high performance training. We are grateful for the continued support of our presenting sponsor BNP Paribas in staging this event.”

The ITF Coach Education Programme aims to improve the number and level of coaches worldwide with a strong focus on helping National Associations to use the ITF recommended syllabi to create their own coach education programmes and become self-sufficient in coach education in their respective nations.

For further information, please visit, the ITF coaching website http://www.itftennis.com/coaching