Summary of the Tennis Coach Survey
Submitted by the Participation Committee
Pete Riley, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Nathan Imakus, Almont
Mike McGinnis, Battle Creek Lakeview
Brennen brown, Holly
Kim Edwards, Riverview
Jim Niebling, Portland
What follows is a preliminary summary of the results from the survey handed out at the recent Detroit
Tennis Workshop. Nearly 100 coaches took the time to complete the survey and return it to us. We are
still getting surveys sent to us, plus we also plan to have the survey e-mailed to the MHSTeCA
membership. So the results and the conclusions we’ve drawn from them are, again, preliminary.
Nonetheless, here is what people have told us …
Who responded to our survey?
Respondents from the survey were pretty evenly divided between boys and girls coaches and among the
divisions I through IV. However, nearly 2/3 were from self-described suburban schools and the vast
majority were varsity coaches and from public schools.
Is participation in tennis really a problem?
Nearly 70% of respondents rated the current decline in tennis participation as a significant problem or
even “catastrophic”. They generally feel that the MHSAA and their local schools have been supportive,
yet they feel that the media has, in general, not been.
There is a clear distinction between boys’ participation and girls’ participation from before the season
switch to after. Coaches reported a general decline in boys’ participation while girls’ participation
dropped slightly, if at all.
For the boys’ tennis, the number of teams with typically less than 12 players increased 9%, the number
of teams with between 12 and 16 players increased 17%, and the number of teams with between 17
and 24 players increased 4%. But the number of teams with more than 25 players fell a dramatic 30%!
This drop in high-participation teams easily explains the increase in the rest. Simply put, coaches feel
participation in boys’ tennis has declined dramatically due to the season switch.
For the girls’ tennis, on the other hand, the number of teams that are typically smaller than 12 players
rose 3%, the number of teams with between 12 and 16 players dropped 4% as did the number of teams
with between 17 and 24 players. Meanwhile, the number of much larger teams that typically carry more
than 25 players rose 5%. So unlike we witness with the participation in boys tennis, the results for girls
tennis might show a small decline, if at all. It would be more appropriate to say that these results are
inconclusive of any change at all.
What can be done to reverse this decline in participation?
To help increase participation in their own programs nearly half of respondents say they (1) recruit
players in school, (2) have a middle school program, (3) have a summer program, and (4) attribute their
level of participation to having a successful program.
From an MHSAA level, over 2/3 of respondents favored or strongly favored moving one of the girls’
sports from the spring to the fall to help balance participation. By a nearly identical ratio, respondents
favored or strongly favored dropping the summer dead period and exempting 7th and 8th graders from
the 4-player rule.
Favoring a move toward 8-team regionals was also prevalent in the results. But the support wasn’t quite
as strong. By similar numbers, respondents were against having a separate state tournament for public
and private/faith-based schools. However, there was moderate support for having private/faith-based
schools and open-enrollment schools play up a division. As for moving teams with USTA ranked players
up a division, results were consistent across the board except for a large number of respondents who
were strongly against the idea.
Taken together, one might conclude that there is moderate support to re-align the divisions and/or
regionals in some form or another. But there certainly isn’t any consensus as to exactly how that might
be.
What’s next?
Most of these results were fairly predictable. They simply provide empirical evidence to support what
many of us “feel”. We plan to use these data to (1) direct the participation committee toward a
recommendation to reverse the decline in participation, and (2) support whatever recommendation is
made, making it more compelling.
1) Do you Coach Boys, Girls or Both? 93 responses
Boys
18
93
19.4%
Girls
17
93
18.3%
Both
58
93
62.4%
2) What level do you coach? 107 Responses
Varsity
88
107
82.2%
JV
18
107
16.8%
MS
1
107
0.9%
3) How many years have you coached? 95 responses
1-5 yrs
25
95
26.3%
6-10 yrs
28
95
29.5%
11-15 yrs
13
95
13.7%
16+ yrs
29
95
30.5%
4) In what tennis division does your school compete? 102
responses
D1
30
102
29.4%
D2
19
102
18.6%
D3
27
102
26.5%
D4
26
102
25.5%
5) Is your school rural, suburban or city? 95 responses
Rural
28
95
29.5%
Suburban
57
95
60.0%
City
10
95
10.5%
6) Is your school public, private, or faith-based? 102
responses
Public
86
101
85.1%
Private
6
101
5.9%
Faith-Based
9
101
8.9%
7) Average participation numbers before 2007 season
switch
BOYS: 79 responses
< 12
3
79
3.8%
12-16
8
79
10.1%
17-24
22
79
27.8%
25 >
46
79
58.2%
< 12
0
80
0.0%
12-16
7
80
8.8%
17-24
18
80
22.5%
25 >
55
80
68.8%
GIRLS: 80 responses
8) Average particip[ation numbers after the 2007 season
switch
BOYS: 90 responses
< 12
12
90
13.3%
12-16
24
90
26.7%
17-24
28
90
31.1%
25 >
26
90
28.9%
< 12
2
85
2.4%
12-16
7
85
8.2%
17-24
24
85
28.2%
25 >
52
85
61.2%
GIRLS: 85 responses
9) Suggestions for improving participation, 95 responses
In-school recruiting
48
95
50.5%
95
48.4%
95
49.5%
95
29.5%
95
45.3%
38
95
40.0%
22
95
23.2%
Middle school / Junior High program
46
Community Youth Tennis program
47
Quick Start tennis program
28
Winning / Successful program
43
Promoting the benefits of tennis
Other efforts not listed
10) Actions that should be taken to deal with declining boys
tennis
1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree
Move a girls' spring sport to the fall, 91 responses
1
45
91
49.5%
2
13
91
14.3%
3
18
91
19.8%
4
10
91
11.0%
5
5
91
5.5%
Exempt tennis from the summer dead period, 92 responses
1
46
92
50.0%
2
8
92
8.7%
3
18
92
19.6%
4
12
92
13.0%
5
9
92
9.8%
Exempt tennis from out-of-season 4-player limit for 7th/8th
grade, 91 responses
1
41
91
45.1%
2
15
91
16.5%
3
20
91
22.0%
4
7
91
7.7%
5
8
91
8.8%
Limit size of regionals to 8 teams, 89 responses
1
22
89
24.7%
2
25
89
28.1%
3
21
89
23.6%
4
11
89
12.4%
5
10
89
11.2%
Separate tournaments for public and private/faith-based
school, 85 reponses
1
13
85
15.3%
2
10
85
11.8%
3
25
85
29.4%
4
11
85
12.9%
5
26
85
30.6%
Have private/faith-based schools and open-enrollment
schools play in a higher division, 91 responses
1
19
91
20.9%
2
15
91
16.5%
3
32
91
35.2%
4
8
91
8.8%
5
17
91
18.7%
Have schools with ranked USTA players play in higher
division, 90 responses
1
17
90
18.9%
2
16
90
17.8%
3
17
90
18.9%
4
14
90
15.6%
5
26
90
28.9%
How severe do you think the decline in tennis participation
for boys has been over the past few years?
1 = what problem?, 5 = catastrophic, 94 responses
1
4
94
4.3%
2
7
94
7.4%
3
19
94
20.2%
4
36
94
38.3%
5
28
94
29.8%
11) How have the following groups supported tennis? 1 =
strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree
MHSAA, 90 responses
1
12
90
13.3%
2
22
90
24.4%
3
25
90
27.8%
4
25
90
27.8%
5
6
90
6.7%
1
6
91
6.6%
2
25
91
27.5%
3
27
91
29.7%
4
29
91
31.9%
5
4
91
4.4%
1
5
92
5.4%
2
11
92
12.0%
3
35
92
38.0%
4
30
92
32.6%
5
11
92
12.0%
Schools, 91 responses
Media, 92 responses