26 Jul Irish Tennis Coach To Receive International Award for Services to Tennis
Irish Tennis coach Dave Miley will see his name appear alongside some of the most famous names
in Tennis this September when he is awarded the prestigious ITF Award for Services to the Game, at
the ITF AGM in Cancun.
The ITF Coaches’ Commission, made up of some of the world’s top tennis instructors, decides on
the award, giving it to one coach each year who is judged to have made a big impact on tennis
internationally. In honouring Miley, who has been Tennis Director for the Kazakstan Tennis
Federation since 2020 and who was Director of Development for the ITF between 1997 and 2015,
they are elevating him to the ranks of such famous names as Nick Bollitieri, Dennis van Der Meer,
Judy Murray, Conchita Martinez, Toni Nadal, Jim Loehr and Louis Cayer.
On hearing of his nomination, Miley said: ‘This is a great honour for which I am truly thankful for
especially as it comes following the nomination of a group of my peers in coaching. Tennis to me is
not a job. It is a way of life. I have devoted my adult life to growing and developing the sport I love
and receiving an award such as this is very gratifying. It also motivates me to find even more ways
to contribute to Tennis and as Tennis Ireland’s candidate, I am hopeful that I can be elected to the
ITF Board of Directors at the 2023 ITF AGM in Cancun in September.’
Congratulating Miley on the award, President of Tennis Ireland John Ryan said: ‘The Tennis
community in Ireland is rightly proud of Dave Miley. His work over the past three years with
Kazakhstan, which saw Lena Rybakina crowned Wimbledon Singles Champion in 2022, has been
outstanding and before that, during his years with the ITF, he was responsible for many innovations
which have stood the test of time and have benefitted our sport.’
Noting also that the award for Miley comes as Irish Tennis followers were excited to see ‘one of
their own’, Fergus Murphy, umpire the recent Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon, Kevin Quinn, CEO
Tennis Ireland, added: ‘It is fantastic to see people like Dave and Fergus, and also Grainne O’Neill,
who recently won an ITF award for her work on Women in Tennis, get international recognition.
Tennis Ireland’s job now is to build on this momentum to bring results on the courts too. Our aim is
to widen our sport’s appeal, by improving access to facilities, increasing participation and
supporting more players to successfully compete on the international stage. I am confident that
with our new strategy, as well as advice from figures as knowledgeable as Dave and Fergus, we can
make great strides.’
For more information please click here: Dave Miley ITF International Coaching Award Press Release FINAL
