Tim Henman OBE headlines 2021 Annual LTA National Officiating Conference

The conference kicked off with an engaging Q&A interview with Tim Henman OBE who reflected on his playing career, his experiences with officials, and his current roles on the All England Club Board and in broadcasting.

Officials in attendance had the opportunity to hear from two panel groups, the first an international officiating panel consisting of ITF Gold Badge Umpires Marija Cicak and Aurelie Tourte and ITF Gold Badge Referee Denise Parnell. The Wimbledon panel saw Denise Parnell also share her insight as Assistant Referee at The Championships, alongside Head of Professional Tennis & Tournament Director Jamie Baker and Chief Umpire Adrian Wilson.

Several industry experts, including Dr Duncan Mascarenhas and Dr Ian Cunningham from Edinburgh Napier University delivered sessions on concentration and focus and effective communication, while Dr Tom Webb from the University of Portsmouth led a session on mental health for officials. Debbie Epstein from Inclusive Employers finished the session by delivering a webinar on diversity & inclusion and unconscious bias.

Attendees were also given an update on LTA’s Competitions as part of its vision to open tennis up to more people, and the LTA/ABTO (Association of British Tennis Officials) joint officiating strategy.

Matthew Morrissey, LTA Officiating Manager, said: “It was fantastic to welcome so many officials to our National Officiating Conference last week. A special thanks to Tim Henman OBE and all of our guest speakers for their valuable knowledge sharing and insight.

We hope all the attendees enjoyed the conference and we look forward to welcoming more officials to our next one in 2022.”