Unlicensed coaches a problem in the fight against abuse: Tennis SA boss

Tennis South Africa (TSA) president Gavin Crookes has highlighted safeguarding as a challenge for his federation, saying too many unlicensed and unregistered coaches are allowed to operate.

They were among several alleged offenders the sport body was aware of, but their lack of official status meant TSA couldn’t take action against them directly.

Crookes underlined the issue in the TSA annual report, which reported a R5.07m surplus for the year ended March 31 2023, a turnaround of about R10m on the previous year’s R5.5m deficit.

Revenue topped R33m, up on the R29.67m in 2022. More than R17.6m came from sponsorships and nearly R5m from government. Costs dropped to R28.2m from R35.25m.

But there were a few challenges facing the federation, such as landing a new CEO and finding replacements for headline sponsor Growthpoint Properties, whose six-year stay expired in the middle of the year.

Safeguarding was another issue that required combined efforts throughout the tennis community, Crookes said.

“Last year I reported on an issue at one of our international junior events that involved the police and the National Prosecuting Authority.

“Regrettably this matter has not yet been finalised. We are dealing with seven other safeguarding issues, with the unfortunate majority involving the conduct of coaches.

“Most of these coaches are unlicensed and not registered with TSA, posing challenges, as we are unable to take action against these alleged offenders in accordance with our policies and Code of Conduct.”

Crookes said TSA’s membership needed to ensure coaches were licensed and registered.

Coaches were required to complete a coaching course approved by the sport’s world governing body, pay annual registration fees, complete a number of continuing professional education hours and provide police clearance certificates.

“It is disheartening to note many of our country’s leading tennis academies do not insist their assistant coaching personnel be licensed with TSA.

“In the upcoming year TSA will need to develop robust strategies to better regulate the situation. We also expect members, parents, clubs and schools to exercise greater diligence in ensuring the coaches they employ or permit to use their facilities are licensed and registered.”

TSA has yet to fill its CEO post because it hadn’t found a suitable candidate.

“We embarked on a transparent process that has now spanned about 11 months. The initial process involved advertising the position, reviewing 16 applications and interviewing seven of these candidates. The initial process did not result in the identification of any suitable candidates.”

TSA restarted the process with a focus on finding personnel. “At the time of writing this report I can confirm we have identified 11 candidates, interviewed six of them, and one candidate has undergone three interviews, including one with the board.

“A decision regarding the way forward for this position is hopefully imminent.”

In the meantime, board members have had to get involved in operational areas to fill the void.

Four staff members who left had not been replaced. “The management committee has taken the decision not to replace personnel now as it should be the prerogative and responsibility of the new CEO.”

Crookes was hopeful a replacement for Growthpoint and the properties it sponsored would be found.

“Negotiations with various new sponsors to adopt these brands are promising,” he wrote in the report.

He said padel tennis had grown significantly and Padel Tennis South Africa had been given associate membership in 2019. 

“We are aware of a separate organisation with the name Padel Africa, which, for all intents and purposes, serves as a 'professional arm' organising individual competitions around South Africa and Africa as part of a World Tour organisation.

“We are also aware that several other padel organisations in South Africa are seeking accreditation, constructing courts and engaging with existing tennis clubs,” he wrote, adding applications for national colours had to go through TSA to the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).