tennis Play and Stay event at fed cup

Federação Portuguesa de Ténis

The Portuguese Tennis Federation (FPT) hosted the Fed Cup event of the Euro African zone (Group 1), from the 3rd to 6th of February. The event attracted natural media attention with the Portuguese team fighting to stay in this group.

Development officer and Director of Coaches Education Victor Cabral for the FPT commented “…this is a amazing opportunity to showcase Play and Stay, capitalizing on media attention…”. The stage was set for a Play and Stay event parallel to the Fed Cup tie.

The P+S court at the National stadium in Lisbon One court, close to the to the indoor courts where the competition was held, was assigned to Play and Stay (P+S) and during the week (starting on the 1st of February) schools from Lisbon and neighbor city Oeiras visited the National Stadium. Between 200 and 300 children experienced tennis every day, watching the players and touring the facilities of this excellent Stadium, the place where Estoril Open is organized.

Best of all they got the chance to play! The P+S court was always full and kids spent the best of times playing the game, most of them for the first time. Some kids came from kindergarten schools, which gave the opportunity for a great experience for kids, teachers and coaches too.

The P+S concept, methodology and materials where showcased once more proving how easy it is to play tennis for the first time and really enjoy the game, whilst experiencing a great competition event at the same time. The Portuguese national team was close by and kids got the chance to see and be with the idols of this generation. The FPT organized the touring of schools, with lunches and gifts included, understanding the strategic importance of this reality for developing tennis.

Different views of the activities during the P+S week Adapted to everybody, this methodology is also used with handicapped kids,
making it possible for them to play. Since 2009, the FPT is conducting some research on the use of this material and methodology with special population, with some very interesting results coming out. Especially with Down syndrome population the results are spectacular.

More than 1500 kids from schools visited the National Stadium during the week, watched games and the players, and also played tennis. People going to the games always stopped to watch kids playing in the P+S court. “Getting people to watch firsthand the P+S concept in action, is the best marketing tool we have. Getting them to experience it themselves is even better…” commented Victor Cabral.

Views of the P+S courts at the Lisbon International Fair with kids and parents playing, together with world class Portuguese judoka Telma Monteiro During the activities at the National Stadium, the FPT team was divided in two with the other team located at the Lisbon International Fair for the Sport Show, an event for interactiv sport. P+S was ideally suited for this and two red courts were set up at the fair. The idea was getting everyone to play and get a sense of the game.

This event was showcasing 15 sports and several other others activities, in more than 150 stands. The P+S was in excellent position and captured immediate attention. According to Victor Cabral “It was very easy to grab the attention of kids, because this was a sport that they could immediately and safely experience, unlike skateboarding, rappel or other activities close by. We
could also get the parents to play with their kids, making this a good experience altogether…”.

Next Portuguese champion? Wait and see…
More than 60 thousand people visited the fair during the week and media attention was great. Two TV live broadcast were made of the P+S courts (one was almost 10 minutes long!!) and also with players from the Fed Cup team, that came to visit the event.
Apart from these activities with P+S, the Coaches Education Department of the FPT also hosted a workshop on “Women Tennis” with Carl Maes, the 7th of February, raping up the “Fed Cup Op”. “This was a very intense week and only possible to my very experienced team. They are a very hard working bunch. We really don´t have any time to enjoy the success of this event. We are already thinking of the Davis Cup tie in the first week of March…”.
Until then…