Pro Stringer Issue 5 - 2017 PS5-2017 - web | Page 14

14
Industry News
The 19th Annual General Meeting of the TIA UK Ltd took place in the Main Interview Room
at the Press Centre, Wimbledon on the fi rst Thursday of the Championships.
President Ian Peacock, Chairman Steve Matthews and Business Development Manager Phil
Sandilands all reported that after a challenging two years the TIA UK has achieved a good solid
platform to grow activity and membership. The Chairman also reported on positive ongoing nego-
tiations to secure fi nancial stability for the Association.
A Special Award was presented to Maurice Hickman who, having served the Board and Council for
ten years, is retiring from J B Corrie & Co Ltd in October
Miley joins Universal Tennis
Universal Tennis Rating, the worldwide rating for tennis players, announced today that David
Miley, former ITF Director of Development will join as a consultant beginning July 17th. In his new
role, Miley will will be responsible for international partnerships for UTR and consult on specifi c
projects related to the growth of the rating system.
Miley was with the ITF for 17 years and has extensive experience in international tennis. In that
position, he led the largest department of the ITF which included Junior Tennis, Senior Tennis,
Wheelchair Tennis, Technical and Anti-Doping. He also oversaw the highly regarded jointly funded
ITF/Grand Slam Development program which assisted the 200+ member nations through pro-
grams in coach education, tennis participation and high performance player development. He
was instrumental in the development of the ITF Coach education syllabi, the Tennis Play and Stay
campaign which led to the rule change for 10 and under tennis in 2010 and for the launch of the
International Tennis number (the ITN) in 2003. Dave will be responsible for the international side
of the UTR project and will work as a consultant on specifi c projects related to the growth of the
rating system, which is currently used extensively in the USA.
About Universal Tennis
Universal Tennis created the Universal Tennis Rating, which enables all players to accurately assess their
abilities. By far the simplest, most accurate gauge of tennis skill, UTR’s 16-point scale applies to both
sexes, all ages, and all levels of ability, from beginners to top professionals. The system taps head-to-head
competitive results from the world’s largest tennis federations.Over the last 10 years, UTR has recorded
more than 5 million tennis results from professional, collegiate, national-, sectional-, and district-level junior
tournaments, as well as high school play. More than 400,000 athletes in 198 countries now have UTRs.
The number of tennis federations and organizers partnering with UTR continues to grow. Each partnership
entails no cost to the federation/organizer, nor any commitment.