In Hong Kong, the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT) was recognized with the Silver Award of the program Advantage All for his work carried out in the promoting gender equality in sport through initiatives of coaching, refereeing and leadership.
In China, the Annual General Meeting (Annual General Meeting) of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), led by its president, David Haggertythe highest body in world sport rewarded the work of the AAT with second place, behind Australia and ahead of France. The ITF’s summary description of Advantage All is “achieving gender balance “where everyone has the same advantages and opportunities in tennis, both on and off the court, will make this sport better for everyone.”
When the new board of directors of the Argentine Tennis Association took over, “Experience and change”, in 2018, with Agustín Callerias president, and Mariano Zabaletaas vice president, among other members of La Legión, had the mission of returning women’s tennis to its rightful place: first, in the AAT; and, second, at the national and international level.
In this regard, Florence Millerformer professional tennis player and player Fed Cup and today member of Board of Directors maintains: “When Agustín Calleri took office, he decided from the first moment that we should focus on improving women’s tennis. In my case, I accompanied him from his first term with Florencia Labat on the Board of Directors”.
The ITF highlights and values the work carried out by the AAT in its different aspects. For example, doubled the number of women participating in national coaching development programswith an increase in tutors Play Tennis from 20 percent in 2022 to 43% in 2023. This leap in representation was reflected in the ITF national level 2 course, in which 43% of women also participated.
In fact, the work is transversal to all areas of the Association, starting with Initiation and Promotion, where after 110 actions carried out for boys and girls between 8 and 10 years old, 44% of the audience was femalewith a 50% of female teachers. Likewise, 90% of women’s S10 teams had specially trained female captains.
Regarding the award that the AAT received, Molinero highlights: “Personally, I believe that this award that the AAT receives today is not only an award for the proposed program, but also to the teamwork that the AAT has been doing for several years with women’s tennis. The number of tournaments organized allows approximately more than 100 players competed last year in professional tournaments in our country. It is also important to mention the work of Mercedes Paz as captain of the team Billie Jean King Cupthe growth of tennis teachers with an increase in the enrollment of female coaches, and the greater participation of girls in under-10 tournaments. “We have been working for many years and there are many people involved in the AAT to develop women’s tennis.”
By 2025, the AAT will work on a program led by Molinero that proposes to carry out eight development campuses with female tennis players under 12, 14, 16 and in the stage of insertion into professionalism. They will be organized strategically taking into account the tournament calendar of the ITF World Tennis Tour in the Argentina and they will be encouraged to travel through different cities in the country. “The aim is to carry out development camps in junior categories to encourage teamwork among the AAT and the best players in the country. These campuses are not only aimed at the players, but also at their coaches, in order to generate a format of interaction between all participants. The idea is that they be carried out in different regions of Argentina, whenever possible, and continue with the same perspective that is had in the tournaments, which is to promote a federal view of tennis”says Molinero.
For its part, Argentina is a benchmark in the region on issues of equity and gender equality. Agustín Calleri, President of the AAT, signed his commitment “I pledge” during the series of Davis Cup 2022 against the Czech Republicand since then the AAT has worked in the constant search to generate equitable and promote balance between women and men in the participation of all circuits and events.
“It is an honor to receive this award from the highest body in world tennis among so many nations that are powerhouses at the sporting level. It is the result of the commitment that we assumed from day one to develop an equitable and fair sport throughout the Argentine Republic.. The numbers speak for themselves. I want to thank all the people who worked to make it possible: the representatives of the AAT women’s tennis team and all the women who day after day are protagonists of the greatness of Argentine tennis, whether from the practice or teaching of sport”Calleri analyzed.
In terms of overall participation, a study carried out this year by the ITF, administered by global market research company YouGov and analyzed by the sports marketing agency Two Circlesdetermined that the 40% of the people who practice tennis in the country are women. According to internal records, Female participation in AAT competitions grew 108% in the last 5 years.
This sustained growth is ultimately reflected at the highest point of the pyramid: professionalism. In 2024 it will culminate with 14 international women’s tournaments organized by the AAThistorical record for Argentine tennis. Added to this are the eight international youth competitions that are organized in the national territory.
As a result, this season There were three top 100 players after 18 years and five top 200 players after 15 years. Argentina organized 2 tournaments again W50 After almost three decades and, after the first ten competitions of the year, 72 Argentinian women had participated in at least one of themwith an average age of 19.3 years.
