Tennis is an extremely popular sport. In summer, parents and children devote themselves to it abundantly. Tennis Québec is one of the most popular federations for young athletes after Soccer Québec and Hockey Québec. However, this enthusiasm dissipates once the snow falls.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
This problem has become one of the launching pads for the new management of Tennis Quebec. With Andréanne Martin, general manager of the federation since December, it is conceivable that tennis fans will be able to enjoy their favorite sport year-round, at low cost and thanks to better accessibility.
As a general rule, tennis is doing very well in La Belle Province. Nevertheless, according to M.me Martin, the sinews of war remains the fact of allowing players to practice their sport in winter. She wants to make tennis as accessible between November and March as it is the rest of the year.
When she talks about accessibility, it is about appropriate infrastructure, reduced costs, because the fees can be quite pharaonic, and bringing together the living environments of people from all over Quebec.
Tennis Québec wants to build indoor tennis centers and the work has already begun.
Public centers where gambling will be affordable, where there will be no subscription or membership fees and in which there will be an hourly rate or one-time fee.
In agreement with the municipalities
Even if the idea appeals to many players in sports and municipal circles, the great difficulty for Andréanne Martin and her team is to convince the cities to join the project to host the new Tennis Québec centers.
Everyone loves the idea, but few want to get involved or just can’t afford it. Beyond the investment, we also have to find a place to build this infrastructure.
Tennis Québec is already in contact with three municipalities. The city of Waterloo, in Estrie, is one of them. She let herself be convinced by Tennis Quebec. A bubble will be built from October.
On the scale of Quebec, Waterloo remains a small city. Mme Martin would very much like to set up centers in more populous cities that have a crying lack of infrastructure.
The example of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is striking. “They don’t have indoor courts, while it’s really a tennis place, there are great players who come from Saint-Jean. To play in the winter, you have to travel for 30 minutes to get to Brossard, which is really not ideal”, specifies the general manager of Tennis Quebec.
Moreover, Tennis Quebec does not want to target the major centers either. For several years, the organization has sought to extend its influence to other regions of Quebec. This is why, currently, Mme Martin does not focus exclusively on the profitability of future centers, on the contrary.
“For us, if there is a club that goes up to Baie-Comeau, it would be as good as if a club went up to Trois-Rivières, she specified. For example, in Sept-Îles, there are a lot of players in the summer, but in the winter, there is no one playing. »
Obviously, fewer tournaments or courses could be organized by the federation, for lack of resources in more remote regions, but infrastructures could be built there if the demand exists and the municipalities are ready to get involved financially. Thus, it is not Tennis Quebec that will make or lose money. His work focuses on structure and organization.
Fear
Without the deployment of different indoor courts, Andréanne Martin fears that players here will not be able to develop to the maximum of their abilities. If this is the case, it is not only the federation, but also the sport that will suffer the repercussions. She fears that talented young players will go to other disciplines that are more accessible in winter.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Andréanne Martin, General Manager of Tennis Quebec
I fear losing juniors too. They train hard, it costs them dearly and they have a hard time in some cases playing tournaments.
Andréanne Martin, General Manager of Tennis Quebec
She adds that “in summer, land is everywhere. In summer, it’s not a problem, it’s easy and access is super simple and accessible. Summer works. In winter, it will always cost more and that is normal”.
If the indoor courts of the IGA stadium are packed, it’s because they are affordable and accessible. However, not everyone has the luxury of traveling to Montreal to hit balls for an hour.
This is where Tennis Québec’s mission begins. This may also be where she could end up achieving her goals of accessibility and democratization of sport.