Play and Stay
The ITF "Play and Stay" campaign was launched in Ireland in 2007. This worldwide campaign, which is aimed at increasing tennis participation, centers around the slogan ‘Serve, Rally and Score’ and promotes tennis as easy, fun and healthy.
The campaign involves all the major tennis nations (including the four Grand Slams), tennis manufacturers, as well as the ATP and WTA Tour.
The ITF has created a website to help all national associations, clubs and coaches to promote and apply the main slogan of the programme: “Serve, Rally and Score”. The main emphasis is in:
- Use of adapted equipment: slower red, orange or green balls in both training and competition. Beginners using slower balls are able to rally and therefore enjoy the game much more quickly.
- Introduction of competitive play early: Competitions can be great fun for all levels of player if they are tailored to their needs and lifestyles, including time constraints. Instead of using single elimination formats, it is recommended to use formats that involve players playing more than one match (round robin/feed in events/compass draws etc.)
- Use a rating system like the ITN to organize matches between players of similar standards.