This past weekend, Robin Baloyi was elected as the new President of Gauteng Tennis. Robin is a successful businessman, long-time tennis player and current member of the National Seniors Committee.
During the course of this week, we sat down with the new President to get to know him better, as well as to learn more about his vision and plans for the provincial structure.
1. Hi Robin, congratulations on your election as President of Gauteng Tennis. Why did you decide to put your name forward for the position?
I have been serving tennis for a short while and when the opportunity arose for a new President, I was approached by various individuals and stakeholders, having seen my abilities and input into the sport and requested me to step in, with the belief that I would be the right person for the job. I have always been willing to serve the tennis fraternity and this is just one of the ways to do so.
2. You are a regular face on the TSA Seniors Circuit, tell us more about your playing career?
I played tennis from a very young age, 8/9. I started playing tennis in the small town of Giyani, Limpopo. I didn’t receive much coaching in my early days, but learned a great deal from watching the pros and reading a lot about the sport. Later in my intermediate stages I started playing tournaments. I played tournaments around the country and also outside the country (Southern Africa). I then took a long break from competitive tennis (tournaments, league, etc.) between 1990 – 2006. I returned to playing a bit of league in 2006. I also represented University teams for UKZN, Tuks and Wits during my studies at those institutions. I ultimately returned to playing tournaments at Seniors level in 2015.
3. You are also involved in Seniors administration as a member of the NSC – responsible for transformation. How long have you been involved and what have you achieved during that period?
I have been involved with Seniors since 2018. Upon my initial engagement with Seniors and the CEO of TSA, I was immediately tasked with driving Transformation as it was very apparent that I am very passionate about it. One of the first things I pointed out was that we needed to remove barriers to entry for black persons at Seniors level to allow them to participate in the sport. These were mainly financial and social barriers. Black people didn’t feel completely welcome and also didn’t see the reason to take part in the official TSA and other events. Having worked hard, together with the national seniors committee, to break these barriers, this resulted in a 150% increase of Black people participating in TSA events since 2018 i.e. the number has more than doubled. I have also played a fundamental role in formulating the Seniors Transformation Plan.
4. Most people in the tennis community would be aware of the Gauteng North, Gauteng East and Gauteng Central tennis structures, but would not be aware of Gauteng Tennis. What is the role and focus of Gauteng Tennis?
The fundamental role of Gauteng Tennis is that of a custodian of Tennis in Gauteng. This runs from administration and growing the sport in the Province, to ensuring that the district affiliates (Gauteng North, East and Central) are supported with the necessary tools, capacity and platform to source funding, run their leagues, manage their portfolios as per GTA, TSA and SASCOC requirements and constitutions, and any other matters relating to both their operational and strategic delivery. GTA must ensure that the Districts are in sync, and comply to the standards set by TSA and SASCOC for affiliate bodies recognized by the two bodies and the National/Provincial departments.
5. How will Gauteng Tennis work and integrate with the above mentioned three Gauteng tennis districts or regions?
The most important and initial step is to establish a partnership and to bring to the districts an understanding that united, the province stands to gain a lot and has a higher chance of succeeding in any endeavour, as opposed to each district undertaking any endeavours on its own. Mostly, integration will start by establishing a sound structure for Gauteng, which will then permeate to the districts. Through council, the districts will be kept abreast of all developments in the province and will also have a platform to have a say. Aligning plans and activities will also be a crucial part of the integration process.
6. Likewise how do you see Gauteng Tennis working with TSA as the national mother body?
Again, an important and initial step is to establish a partnership which will form the basis of the relationship between GTA and TSA. With Gauteng being a key Province, with most participation in the sport countrywide (almost 60% of subscribed members), the province stands to gain a lot and has a higher chance of succeeding in any endeavour in a partnership with TSA, as opposed to undertaking any endeavours on its own. Since GTA is an affiliate of TSA, support from TSA will be key as success for GTA will mean success for TSA.
7. Clearly lots of work ahead for Gauteng Tennis. What do you see as your key priority areas?
The highest priority will be to establish a functional and stable structure to deliver on all the necessary spheres/portfolios as per GTA/TSA constitutions and requirements in each District. An assessment of the landscape is urgently required to give us an indication of where things are. One of the key areas where there seems to be vast challenges at first glance is compliance with the higher administration bodies, especially at district level. Critically, a roadmap is also urgently required to start mapping out the various projects to embark on. Another key task, is the synchronizing of the various activities in some of the portfolios e.g. leagues, schools tennis, tournament calendars, establishing Intra-Provincial tournaments at Juniors/Open/Seniors, etc.
8. And the key challenges facing Gauteng Tennis?
Gauteng has challenges not dissimilar to other provinces that have had districts go through this kind of unification process. The biggest being District legacies. The Districts are used to being competitors in everything they did. From now on, they need to start being partners. Success for one is success for all. This culture shift is going to prove very difficult, but properly managed it will certainly turn around and will prove to be very beneficial. Another big challenge is the recruiting of administratively skilled volunteers to drive execution. There aren’t many people interested in serving tennis, let alone skilled ones who want to do it for free. To succeed, Gauteng Tennis will have to start doing things differently. I do not see GTA succeeding in implementation and execution of the necessary strategic elements while sticking to doing things the way they have been done the past couple of decades. Success will require a fresh mindset and a very positive and adoptive open-mindedness.
9. Where would you like to see Gauteng Tennis in 4-5 years from now?
I will comfortably say that Gauteng Tennis has had good success if we can achieve the following in the 4-5 years to come (in no particular order):
- Districts: having a fully synchronized calendar for Schools, Leagues and Clubs.
- Districts: fully compliant with the requirements of SASCOC and TSA.
- Juniors: an Intra-Provincial tournament.
- Seniors: an Intra-Provincial tournament to select sponsored teams to represent the Province as one at Inter-Pro’s
- Open/Pro: return of an ATP/WTA event.
- Open/Pro: return of at least three (3) to four (4) locally driven money series events like the Wilson 100k we used to have.
- Wheelchair: a premier standalone Wheelchair tennis event every 4 months.
- Club Leagues: a sponsored final of leagues similar to Growthpoint Top Guns format (We need more of these).
- Coaches: an improved coaches platform with more support, and a higher subscription rate, from our coaches.
- Transformation: more Black persons participation in our events (min. 50%) and commercial opportunities (min. 60%).
- Transformation: more tennis clubs in the townships around Gauteng and more tournaments being played in the townships to re-establish the sport in those areas.
- Transformation: a development hub in Gauteng East and more activity in the South (Vereeniging/Vanderbijlpark).
10. Final question….Team Federer or Team Nadal or Team Djokovic and why?
Team Federer – his sublime skills are just a marvel to watch. He is very humble, giving and has done so much to elevate the sport to the dizzy heights of today!!