For immediate release, Friday, March 15, 2019
Burlington, Ontario

Pierre Lamarche, the president of All Canadian Sports Management, the parent company of Ace Tennis which has been recognized as one of Canada's top developmental programs for juniors for over 40 years, has announced a new initiative aimed at "Growing the Game" of tennis in the Greater Toronto area.

Pierre Lamarche
The new initiative of "Growing the Game" is an outgrowth of Ace Tennis' new venture in the  community club market. Lamarche said: "We are in a golden age of Canadian tennis with the outstanding  performances  and future of our top players. We must take this opportunity of heightened media exposure to develop strategies which will recruit families to the sport and retain them through facilitating the learning of the sport."

Lamarche believes that the initial step to "Growing the Game" is accessing unused municipal courts, offering proven low cost introductory programs and eventually forming community clubs in these Park and Rec facilities. Demand might require the further development of year round options which would provide the impetus to really grow the game across the country.
 
"We are lucky to live in an area [Greater Toronto] with so many parks and recreational facilities available for proper development" Lamarche said, "We can develop prototypes in Toronto which will show the way for many other municipalities". This could be a gigantic win-win for Tennis Canada who has identified the need for year round facilities, Ontario Tennis who wants to grow the number of clubs and members, Toronto Tennis who would gain great exposure in the Toronto market and the City of Toronto who wants better utilization of their facilities during the summer. The Toronto Parks and Rec strategic plan has identified the benefits associated with converting seasonal facilities in year-round options where demand warrants such action.
 
Lamarche added: "We hope to bring together all required elements of the national, provincial and municipal partners as well as the fundraising requirements for future capital needs to upgrade existing locations. Tennis is such a great vehicle for the development of youth that the multi-cultural aspect of Toronto lends itself perfectly to introduce low cost, life long programs that will benefit all in the long term."
 
Note: Ace Tennis offers year round programs at Cedar Springs Racquet & Sportsclub in Burlington and Toronto Tennis City in the Davisville area of Toronto. Ace Tennis also provides human resources and programs in three community clubs: The Burlington Tennis Club, The Bridlewood Tennis Club and the Milton Tennis Club.

For more info contact:  [email protected]

Quick Facts

How many locations and tennis courts are available through the Toronto Parks and Rec department?
  • There are 181 Park and Rec locations that have tennis courts
  • 67 of these locations have a community club
  • 26 of these 67 community clubs are OTA members [38%]
  • 41 clubs on community land are not members of the OTA [62%]
  • 114 locations do not offer structured programming
  • 155 locations have no affiliation with the OTA and as a result Tennis Canada
How many tennis courts are there in these 181 locations?
  • These 181 locations represent 611 tennis courts
  • Only 104 courts have the proper structure in place [17%]
  • The other 83% of courts [507] are not part of a formal tennis structure
  • Improving of facilities [resurfacing] is responsibility of community clubs
What are the costs to the city and community?
  • 507 courts are financial responsibilities of Park and Rec which is over 5 million every 7 years for resurfacing
  • One tennis court represents 7200 square feet
  • 611 courts are 4,399,200 sq. Ft or 100 acres
  • 83 acres of Park and Rec land related to tennis have no formal management and programming
  • The majority [over 97%] of these 100 acres are seasonal in nature and as a result provide only 6 months of services to the community
What benefits could be derived from a new approach?
  • The 114 locations with no structured programming represent a minimum of 2 coaching opportunities for college students [May through August]
  • 228 college coaches would make $12,000 + for 4 months of work [0ver $2.5 million]
  • 228 more coaches for Tennis Canada and the Professional Teachers Association
  • 155 possible OTA member clubs
  • Over 7,500 children yearly provided access to structured low-cost programming
  • Over 15,000 yearly registered adults could be brought into the system
  • The development of year-round community clubs will provide more services to families and employment to coaches
"Growing the Game"
Maximizing the resources at our disposal