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ONTARIO TENNIS ASSOCIATION

Ontario Tennis Association Mission Statement

The Ontario Tennis Association encourages participation in tennis, as part of a healthy lifestyle, and promotes the pursuit of excellence for all players.

HISTORY

The Ontario Tennis Association (OTA) is the provincial sport governing body for tennis in Ontario. It is a non-profit organization, incorporated under the Corporation Act. It is the largest provincial tennis association in Canada, boasting 220 clubs and 55,000 adult and child tennis players.

The two basic aims of the OTA are to encourage participation in the sport of tennis in Ontario and to provide a structure of services which will assist players to reach a level of competence consistent with their personal goals and abilities.

The strength of the OTA is seen in both its sheer numbers and exposure to every corner of the province, and for the creation and maintenance of an atmosphere of unlimited tennis opportunities for players of all levels, from grassroots to national calibre athletes.

The roots of the OTA date back to 1890, when the first official Canadian men’s singles championships were played at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, September 2 to 6, with American E.E. Tanner of Buffalo, NY taking the title.

The Ontario Tennis Association was founded at a meeting of tennis enthusiasts in Barrie, in 1918, as the Ontario Lawn Tennis Association. Colonel Blackstock, Jack Boys, Garnet Meldrum and Jack Little, all well known tennis figures, were present. In 1919, the first Annual General Meeting was held and Blackstock was elected the association’s first president.

In 1974, the OTA established ten regions throughout the province to administrate tennis programs at the local level and coordinate their own individual boards.

The following is a list of past presidents of the OTA: