Breathing life back into tennis.

Is tennis dying?" An article in Sports Illustrated last year asked this question and criticized today's top players for being "boring" and lacking the so-called "charisma" of players such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. This article sparked a storm of debates, particularly in a year that saw sagging racquet and tennis ball sales.

Pretty much everyone agreed that the sport was in slump. But deciding what to do to get tennis back on track was more difficult. However, the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) has a plan. And it involves every segment of the industry - including public park teaching professionals and public facilities.

The TIA is the professional organization representing tennis equipment, footwear, and apparel manufacturers/marketers, accessories companies, court products companies, management firms, publications, and the other organizations in tennis.

Briefly stated, the organization's plan to increase participation and product sales includes several elements: * Expansion in the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) Play Tennis America program, designed to allow entry-level participants actually to begin playing tennis in a short time through a series of lessons. * An expanded free lesson program offered by TIA in 25 U.S. cities. * A program to offer participants in free lessons the opportunity to sign up for the additional lessons in the Play Tennis America curriculum. * Free lessons offered at both public park facilities and at racquet and health clubs through 17 USTA sections around the country. * Expansion of the free lesson program to 50 cities in 1996 and to 125 cities in 1997. * Advertising campaign to change the image of tennis to make it "cool" again with younger consumers.

The budget for these efforts is $15 million over the next three years. Half of the funds will be used for the free lessons program and half will be used to fund the advertising campaign. The funding is coming from a variety of sources. The TIA members are putting in approximately half by participating in an assessment program. The professional tours are contributing as well, as are tennis publications, IMG (the management company), and the USTA.

"This contribution to the future of tennis in the United States reflects the enthusiasm of the USTA to cooperate with the TIA in an industrywide effort," says Dr. Lester Snyder, Jr., USTA president. "This financial commitment is indicative of the positive relationship developing within the industry. The relationship never has been better, and we will work together to make tennis grow and prosper," he said, adding, "This is a great step further."

TIA President Jim Baum notes, "For the USTA to make that kind of commitment, both in human and financial resources, shows that it continues to be willing to work with everyone in the industry to increase tennis participation."

The TIA has received a great deal of positive publicity on this project already. One of the hallmarks of the program is that it involves so many groups and professionals in the field, including more than 60,000 tennis teaching professionals.

By breathing life into a sport which long has brought enjoyment to millions of people, the TIA and others involved in this project hope to take tennis to new levels of popularity.

Tennis isn't dead, it's only sleeping. And our plans are to wake it up in a very big way.

For more information on the program, call the TIA office at [phone].