Freestyle Blog: Tennis Runs In Our Blood!

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Tennis Runs In Our Blood!

If you’re a fan of tennis, then you’ll easily recognise Babolat’s ‘Tennis Runs In Our Blood’ slogan. As the leading French manufacturer of tennis rackets, sports clothing and footwear, Babolat is now one of the biggest brands in the world of tennis, and is favoured by top players like Rafa Nadal, Andy Roddick, Li Na and Wimbledon semi-finalist, Jerzy Janowicz.

When it comes to all things tennis, Freestyle’s Creative Director, Tim Phillips is something of an expert. Having picked up a racket at the tender age of 10, Tim is also a qualified professional tennis coach. He just represented Nottinghamshire at Eastbourne, in the inter-county over 35’s tournament beating rivals Oxfordshire. Given his dedication to the sport, it's unsurprising that tennis is very much a family business. His daughter Charlotte, once ranked in the top five under 18’s, is now studying for a degree in sports management on a tennis scholarship in Houston, Texas, while his wife plays for the county.

Freestyle's Creative Director,Tim Phillips, has been able to bring his love of tennis to his work on projects with Babolat

Tim has been able to bring his love of the game to his work at Freestyle, particularly over the last three years where he’s led the creative team on projects with Babolat to create major promotional campaigns, tactical marketing and online advertising material across the UK. So it was a natural fit when the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) approached him to develop a campaign to raise awareness of the many educational and career routes that are now available to young tennis players.

This led to the effort between Tim and Freestyle’s Art Director, Dave Slaney on LTA’s Careers in Tennis campaign which was launched recently. The campaign highlights the various options that are available to encourage young players to build a career in the sport. The Player Pathways campaign brochure serves as a career guide for 16 to 22 year olds and it spells out the paths that can lead to jobs in coaching, sports science, sports marketing and club management, among others. The campaign material also includes a series of case studies featuring young stars including Charlotte Phillips; Niall Angus, who represented Great Britain on the Junior Summer Cup Team and was ranked as high as number 51 in the junior International Tennis Federation (ITF) world rankings plus, Jodie Bratchell who is currently the University Tennis Coordinator at Loughborough University and is studying for a Masters in sports nutrition.

Charlotte Phillips is playing the game she loves, while studying for a degree in sports management

Fresh from his success at the recent inter-county tournament, Tim explained why this project was particularly meaningful, “One of the most important and often difficult decisions that highly talented, top ranked junior tennis players have to make is whether to further their education or whether to turn professional. It was important to me to help guide these players and provide them with solid information to help them plan their future. The Careers in Tennis campaign material enables them to make informed decisions. Financial, personal, educational, and professional development goals have to be considered. There is no simple answer, and the reasoning is different for each player. There are some great things you can do within the game. Our goal is to make sure that their love of the game continues and they stay within the tennis scene.”