What it takes to host the biggest indoor women’s tennis event in the UK
The biggest indoor women’s tennis event in the UK will kick off at The Shrewsbury Club today - but do you know how many tennis balls players will get through or how many rackets will be restrung during the course of the week?
The ITF World Tennis Tour, which will see leading British and international stars compete in the W100 Women’s Tour, will take place from today through to 6 November.
But events of this magnitude don’t just happen, as Dave Courteen, Managing Director of The Shrewsbury Club, explains.
Throughout the course of the week-long event, there will be:
- 70 players
- 30 officials
- 34 local companies involved as sponsors
- 48 volunteers
- 76 members of the ball crew
- 150 tennis rackets will need restringing
- 2,100 tennis balls
- 1,150 coffees are likely to be ordered by players and officials
There are also:
- 529 ITF women's events in the world in 2022
- 14 W100 events in the world in 2022
“It’s an immense privilege that the club has once again been selected by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to stage this event - the biggest indoor women’s tennis event in the country,” said Dave.
"To put into context how big this event is there are 529 ITF women's events around the world in 2022 and the highest level event is a W100 that we are staging in Shrewsbury. There are just 13 other cities in the world that will host a W100 in 2022. This is such an honour for the town.
“However, I’m keen to stress that events like these don’t happen by magic - they take a great deal of hard work, planning and logistics but that’s a challenge that the team at The Shrewsbury Club and I relish.
"We are hugely grateful the 34 local companies who have sponsored the event. Without their support we just couldn't make this happen.
“There’s also a great number of people involved throughout the next week - from volunteers to the ball crew, the players and officials, as well as those providing the hospitality - not to mention, the spectators, who add to the vibrancy of the event.
“But there’s also a whole host of other elements to factor in, from rackets needing restringing to the sheer volume of coffee that everyone drinks to keep us all going. It takes a village.”