Lack of participation in competitive junior tennis

Abstract

There are about twenty tennis clubs in Malta and Gozo. Some of them have hundreds of members enrolled with them and one can say that tennis is one of the main social sports in Malta. Coaching clinics are very popular and a good number of 6 to 16 year old juniors are coached every week. However, in spite of this popularity, there is a lack of participation in junior open tournaments. This may have also lead to lack of new blood on the tennis national team. This study includes an interview with an experienced coach I club administrator and two focus groups, one with two parents and the other with a group of children. They were asked for their opinions about sport participation and what they think about how tournaments are organised and run, the standard of coaches, the Malta Tennis Federation, their views about school and parental pressure, other interests, and about sport in general. Their comments were analyzed, put together, and compared to current literature about the subject under study. A number of factors influence the lack of participation of juniors in competitions emerged from this study. Since this study was carried in one of the local clubs, this study may be used as a pilot study for future investigations which may have the opportunity to gather data from different tennis clubs.