Background
Tennis clubs are increasingly confronted with challenges in the areas of member recruitment and retention, fundraising - especially sponsorship - and organisational development. As neither Swiss Tennis nor its regional associations have a specific coaching programme in this area, Swiss Tennis is planning to develop a systematic and sustainable club coaching programme in collaboration with its regional associations - and with the support of the Institute of Sport Science, department of Sport Sociology & Management - to develop a systematic and sustainable club coaching programme. In this context, the content of the "Club Management" course offered by Swiss Olympic is also to be harmonised and, where possible, expanded and differentiated (e.g. development of additional modules).
Approach
Project phase 1
In a first step, the needs of the tennis clubs with regard to club counselling were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The needs were asked about specific topics as well as different counselling formats. Based on the results of the club survey, three subject areas were defined for the further development of the counselling concept: Member recruitment/retention; sponsoring and other financing options; organisational development. In addition, a fourth format in the area of general strategy (development) is to be carried out as part of individual coaching.
Project phase 2
The Institute of Sport Science (ISPW) is responsible for the content and organisation of the workshops as well as the creation of corresponding workbooks/learning journals. In addition to the preparation of current practice-orientated literature, the documents and concepts already available at Swiss Tennis are also taken into account. In addition to the development of content, there is a regular exchange between the ISPW and Swiss Tennis as well as a comparison with the "Club Management" course.
Project phase 3
In the subsequent pilot phase, the four different "programmes" will each be carried out and evaluated with around six tennis clubs (except for individual coaching). Around two club managers per club will take part in the workshops. The ISPW and Swiss Tennis will carry out the workshops in close cooperation with selected regional associations, with one programme in French-speaking Switzerland being conducted in French. The aim is to build up a coaching network and advisory team during the pilot phase.
Furthermore, the pilot phase will be scientifically monitored and evaluated. In particular, the extent to which the tennis clubs are able to absorb the counselling input, transfer it to their club context and implement it accordingly must be examined. The ISPW is responsible for the evaluation, in particular the development of the evaluation design and the associated survey instruments.
Aim of the project
By evaluating the pilot phase of the four programmes, recommendations for further development are to be drawn up in order to be able to offer club coaching from 2026 and make it successful in the long term.
