High School Tennis

The largest junior tennis program in Colorado is high school tennis. The most recent data from NFHS  (through the 2014-2015 school year) shows that the boys and girls programs under the supervision of CHSAA and local high schools have more than 7,000 participants in boys and girls high school programs and there are a number of stakeholders who have vested interest in high school programs. That is the good news!

On the other hand, the NFHS participation data through 2014-2015 for Colorado shows that recent participation is trending downward. That is not a good sign. Recently released data for the 2015-2016 season shows no growth in the number of teams but a slight uptick in participation.

Nationally, the data through 2015-2016 has been flat since the 2009-2010 season.

2006-2016tennis-participations-trends-for-web-cropped

There is more that can be done to meet the needs of high school tennis programs in Colorado and other states. This past summer an analysis of Colorado’s secondary tennis programs identified key elements of the programs and presented questions about potential issues that could be addressed.

It was sent to stakeholders in the high school tennis community in hopes they would discuss how to further strengthen Colorado high school programs. In the months ahead, feedback from the various stakeholders will be displayed on this website.

Topics addressed in the document were:
• Purpose of Colorado high school tennis
• Participation Colorado high school tennis
• Costs to play Colorado high school programs
• Stakeholders and investment
• Length of Colorado high school tennis season
• Ability level of Colorado high school players
• Match competitiveness
• Match format
• Number of courts on Colorado high school campuses
• Quality of Colorado high school coaches
• Expectations of Colorado high school coaches
• Building a community for high school programs and players
• Expanding relationships with allied organizations
• CHSAA regulations.

The document at this link contains the cover letter and the report Meeting the Needs of High School Tennis Players Observations and Analysis of Colorado High School Tennis.  Additional information is available on subsequent pages.  If you have feedback, please send it to businessgh@aol.com.