After three years in the role Steve Walker is stepping down as Tennis New Zealand CEO.
Walker is set to return to Australia to rejoin his young family after a rewarding tenure that has seen many developments in the sport.
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to lead tennis in New Zealand during the past three years,” says Walker. “I’ve enjoyed great support from a fantastic team here at Tennis NZ, as well as from right across the tennis stakeholder network.
“As a result of this we’ve made some great progress in the areas of game development, coaching and peak performance. There is an obvious sense of sadness to be leaving, but my commitment to family must prevail in this instance.
“I would like to think that, beyond my tenure, the sport is now constitutionally, strategically and operationally aligned, and therefore well positioned to tackle its many challenges, both domestically and internationally.”
During his time in charge, Walker oversaw progress that included;
- Measured collectively, significant improvement in world rankings by New Zealand’s top five men, women, boys and girls, despite the ever-increasing globalization and strength of the sport.
- A vastly improved structure around peak performance, including more than doubling the number of overseas tours with coach-related support, as well as increased transitional funding.
- A new plan for coach education, offering courses and professional development opportunities for aspiring and current coaches at all levels, was introduced, along with a coach registration and certification programme that should improve coaching across New Zealand.
- The establishment of a development network of 14 people now ‘armed’ with a set of “tools” and programmes to work with clubs and coaches with which to grow the game.
- Enhancements and improvements to domestic competition opportunities such as Grasshopper Tournaments to Junior Masters and the Money Tournaments around New Zealand.
- The establishment of a “Grasshoppers” programme that links coaches, clubs and schools on a tennis pathway from beginner to tournament level (23,000 participants so far).
Walker also oversaw, in association with SPARC and the regions, completion of the Tennis Revitalization programme, and the resulting sense of the sport being aligned and unified.
Walker has the full support of the TNZ board, which accepts his reasons for departing and acknowledges his contribution to the game in New Zealand.
“Steve has made a huge effort for tennis in New Zealand and achieved great results. Our full board thanks him for his contribution,” said, TNZ board chairman, David Patterson.
Tennis NZ will now advertise the position with a replacement to be found within the next two to three months. |
