Glover served the perfect game for Tennis SA

TENNIS South Africa (TSA) chief executive Richard Glover has stepped down from national tennis’ hotseat to take up a vice-president’s position with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which runs the elite men’s professional world tour.

It’s a massive blow for domestic tennis since Glover managed a 400% growth in annual revenue under his watch. He retained and recruited multiple sponsors and of late, secured a three-year broadcasting partnership with the SABC.

National tennis president Gavin Crookes said Glover was a “gamechanger” for TSA and created a level of trust among tennis stakeholders.

“Richard has been a ‘game changer’ for TSA,” said Crookes. “His self-effacing personality, coupled with his ability to inspire and lead, underpinned by delivery and he created of a level of trust never before experienced amongst stakeholders.”

Five years ago, Glover arrived at TSA as the new chief executive. He met its unique challenges with optimism, critical thinking, adaptability, vision, and motivation.

“Before I took the role at TSA, I had a look at the research and audience data around local tennis, and the conclusion I came to was that tennis in the country was a sleeping giant,” said Glover.

“It is not on the same scale as the ‘Big Three’ (football, rugby and cricket) but with tremendous growth potential.

“After six months, I realised that while this first impression was correct, it would take much longer to reach its potential than I had thought. It was because there were (and still are) many structural and environmental challenges that need resolving.

“There was a lot of willingness amongst many role-players (the TSA board and office staff) to see the sport grow. Anything we have achieved in the past few years has been down to a team and not just one individual.”

After six months in the hot seat, it was time to give national tennis direction.

“I spent the first few months meeting as many people as possible,” said Glover. “They were from all levels of the game. It was a matter of listening and learning more than talking.

“That was an invaluable process for me and one I would strongly recommend to anyone in a new leadership role. I am not from a tennis background, and while some may have seen that as a negative, I tried to use it as a positive by approaching the role with an open mindset.

“Within a couple of weeks, it became very clear that there were two immediate priorities. The first was stabilising the finances of the federation (we were months from being insolvent). Secondly, there was a need to create positive energy in local tennis.

“We were fortunate to secure new sponsors for local tennis relatively quickly. Growthpoint Properties signed on as our headline sponsor and have been with us ever since. It stabilised our financial situation and helped grow confidence in the federation. It led to more positive energy around the local tennis ecosystem, and it was critical for the TSA engine to be up and running again.”

Under his watch, Glover drove the transformation process with vigour and determination.

“I have to say that tennis, and indeed almost every sport in this country, has a long way to go in terms of true transformation,” said Glover. “Tennis is still viewed as an elitist, white sport, and there are valid reasons why that perception still exists.

“At times, I have been frustrated by the relatively slow pace of transformation within tennis.

“Once the correct mindset is in place, then transformation moves from being a compliance matter to something much more meaningful, impactful and sustainable. Tennis is starting to realise this and, while there is a long journey ahead, I am optimistic about seeing a more transformed sport in future.”

On the admin front, it has always been a contentious matter of balancing support for professionals on the world tour and development programmes, especially in previously disadvantaged areas.

“Balancing high-performance and grassroots imperatives are tricky because they are equally important but are not necessarily always aligned,” said Glover.

“One of the things I have struggled with was trying to balance my focus between these two distinct areas. I have (belatedly) concluded that high-performance and grassroots tennis needs to be split into two entities. There should be a professional arm and an amateur (or grassroots) arm. Both should be overseen by the TSA board of directors.

“The split would (theoretically) allow each area to have much more focus, love and attention. It should be managed by a dedicated team of specialists.”

A few months ago, Glover made a breakthrough in terms of securing exposure for tennis on national TV. It will be remembered as one of the notable feats under his watch.

“During my time at TSA, we have viewed tennis in the country as being built on three key strategic pillars; profile, participation and performance,” said Glover.

“Profile is about growing awareness and interest in the game, participation is about the number of people you are playing the sport and performance is about seeing South Africans (both men and women) participating at the highest level of the game – especially in the Grand Slams.

“Our SABC partnership is critical from a profile perspective because for the first time in many years it delivers local tennis on a free to air broadcast platform to all communities in South Africa. The deal shines a light on the many positive things happening in local tennis.”

Glover is a former Arsenal Football Club marketing manager and managing director of Frontiers Sport and Entertainment. He follows in the footsteps of several South Africans who have served world tennis bodies like ATP, WTC (Women’s Tennis Association) and ITF (International Tennis Federation) over the years.