26 Apr ITF Development Officer Visit to Tennis Ireland
Tennis Ireland was delighted to welcome to Ireland, ITF Development Officer for Europe, Mr. Vitor Cabral this week.
During his visit, Vitor engaged with the Tennis Ireland staff, meeting them over 2 days, to hear of the progress Tennis Ireland is making and to provide input into future projects and plans. The visit also focused specifically on how the ITF and Tennis Europe will be able to assist in the implementation of these plans.
The areas of discussion included; Facility Development, Coach Education, Growing Participation, Player Support, Special Projects and Tennis Ireland’s soon to be launched Strategic Plan for Tennis in Ireland.
A meeting was also held with the new Chief Executive of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Peter Sherrard, to discuss areas of interest relating to support for our current top players, our emerging talent and coaches.
Vitor also visited Sutton, Portmarnock and Malahide Tennis Clubs and was clearly impressed, not only with the facilities, but the activities taking place during his visit.
Speaking about the visit, Richard Fahey, Chief Executive of Tennis Ireland said, “ We were delighted to welcome Vitor to Ireland this week. Since my appointment I have made the development of closer relations with the ITF a priority and I’m glad to say that the ITF, under the leadership of Dave Haggerty, have significantly improved the support and assistance available to Federation’s. I also recently met with Luca Santilli, Director of Development for the ITF, and was really impressed with his commitment to supporting smaller nations through the provision of guidance and financial support”.
Vitor outlined “It was a priority for me to come to a nation like Ireland who have really started to engage more with the ITF and the assistance programmes that are available. Ireland, as a tennis nation has significant potential, in my view, and I was particularly pleased to see that their future plans clearly align with those of the ITF. A good example of this was the recent renewal of the Gold Level for Coaches Education where Ireland are one of just eighteen countries in the world to have achieved this quality standard.”