(Vancouver) As he prepares to step down from his post, Tennis Canada President and COO Michael Downey says there is still work to do to grow his sport – especially on the senior side. girls and women.
Tennis fans want to see more women in action and national federations must do their part to make that happen, he said.
“I think we’re in the early stages of an unprecedented development in women’s sport generally,” said Downey, who announced in February that he would retire at the end of 2023.
“And I think in the old days, a few years ago, the (television) networks were like, ‘I have to give women airtime because I have to.’ Today, they do it because they know the demand is there. And that is very exciting. »
During two terms in his current position, Downey has spearheaded significant reforms to the structure of Canadian tennis – many of the country’s players have risen to the top of the planet since he took charge of the organization in 2004.
Quebec’s Félix Auger-Aliassime won four ATP Tour titles last year, while Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., won the U.S. Open in 2019. The Canadian tennis team men won their first Davis Cup in 2022 and, on Saturday, the women’s team won their pass for the Billie-Jean-King Cup finals, which will take place in November.
“Canadian tennis has earned acclaim around the world,” Downey said. Several of my colleagues, presidents and directors of operations of other national federations, approached me to find out what was put in the water in Canada since the country came out of a bit of nowhere before becoming a reference world.
“The rest of the planet is watching us and thinking, ‘Hey, it’s a Nordic country, but it’s great at tennis.’ And it’s great to see,” he continued.
During his first term, Downey oversaw the opening of a national training center in Montreal, in addition to setting up others in Toronto and Vancouver.
These programs have not only allowed many Canadians to flourish on the international scene, but they have also helped to raise expectations for academies and coaches across the country, he noted, and the continuation of this progress “will be the coming of a dream”.
“I think Milos (Raonic) and ‘Genie’ (Bouchard) paved the way, inspired Leylah (Fernandez), Denis (Shapovalov), Bianca (Andreescu) and Félix (Auger-Aliassime). That’s what happened,” Downey explained.
In March, Tennis Canada launched its “Game. Set.” Equity. This initiative aims to stimulate female participation in tennis, while developing this aspect in a safe and inclusive way for women in addition to making it more attractive from a commercial point of view.
The organization wants more women to fill coaching and referee positions and more young girls to practice the discipline, noted Downey, who will remain the program’s ambassador after his departure.
“We’re not doing this just because it’s what we should be doing on paper. Our organization will be stronger because of it,” he summed up.
“And we believe that will happen as we welcome more women into our ranks, as more young girls participate in our sport, as they choose to pursue this activity, and as more of them occupy key positions in our organization. It will make a big difference,” he concluded.
