Wales' Jonathan Dawes appointed as new LTA Councillor
• 4 MINUTE READ
Jonathan Dawes from Rhyl has been appointed as one of seven new LTA Councillors in a continued drive towards inclusion and diversity in tennis.
The new Councillors each bring with them unique backgrounds and experiences. They have been recruited to further enhance the LTA’s governance and leadership by positively contributing to the diversity of LTA’s thoughts, ideas and approaches to delivering its strategy of tennis opened up.
The new Councillors, who will each serve for a minimum of three and maximum of nine years, officially joined the Council this week and attended their first LTA Council meeting on Wednesday. Of the new appointees, four are men and three are women, four are of colour, two have declared they are part of an underrepresented group, while three are of a significantly younger age.
The appointment of the Councillors is the latest in a series of actions the LTA is implementing ahead of the publication of its new inclusion and diversity strategy for tennis later this year. It follows the open letters published by LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd last year that made clear its commitment as the national governing body for tennis put in place the actions needed to effect real change as part of its drive to open tennis up. The news builds on the announcement last month of the establishment of the LTA’s new IDEA Group, and comes ahead of the appointment of a new Non-Executive Director to the LTA Board to be announced shortly.
They collectively bring with them a diverse range of experience and views that will be of real value to us in our work to achieve our vision of opening up tennis and making it a sport for anyone
LTA President David Rawlinson said: “The LTA Council plays a vital role in the governance of our sport, and so we are delighted to be able to announce a group of such high caliber Board Nominated Councillors to join our team. We are making progress on our commitment to embed inclusion and diversity throughout what we do, and these appointments will help us continue that.
“They collectively bring with them a diverse range of experience and views that will be of real value to us in our work to achieve our vision of opening up tennis and making it a sport for anyone, no matter their age, background, gender or ability. We welcome them to the LTA and are looking forward to working with each of them over the course of the coming years.”
Jonathan is a final year A Level student; multi Tennis Wales Award winner, LTA Award winner for Young Person of the Year 2019; British Citizens Award from the Palace of Westminster; Member of the Welsh Youth Parliament and National spokesperson for Education; leader of a successful life skills campaign for young people resulting in curriculum reform; club coach and volunteer at Rhyl Tennis Club; delivered free tennis to 1000 young people during school skills week; involved in a cross-sports youth advisory panel.
Jonathan is a final year A Level student; multi Tennis Wales Award winner, LTA Award winner for Young Person of the Year 2019; British Citizens Award from the Palace of Westminster; Member of the Welsh Youth Parliament and National spokesperson for Education; leader of a successful life skills campaign for young people resulting in curriculum reform; club coach and volunteer at Rhyl Tennis Club; delivered free tennis to 1000 young people during school skills week; involved in a cross-sports youth advisory panel.
Jonathan commented, "I am absolutely delighted to announce that I have been appointed by the LTA as a Board Nominated Councillor and at the age of 18, this makes me the youngest ever LTA Councillor in the governing bodies 133 year history!
Becoming an LTA Councillor is a real privilege and I am very much looking forward to using my platform to grow and contribute to the governance of tennis across the United Kingdom, ‘level up’ opportunity across the nation, champion volunteer engagement and provide young people with a strong voice at the highest level of British tennis!"
Tennis Wales wish Joanthan the best of luck in his new role, we are confident that he will be an extremely positive addition to the LTA Council.
