The intent of the ARTA Tennis Development Fund is to develop an investment pool of funds, whose interest income will in time be used to support the growth of Real Tennis in Australia.

ARTA currently has a limited source of funds to invest into Real Tennis. With a relatively limited tennis playing population and low annual subscription fees, ARTA is not able to support our great game here in Australia as we would all like.

By contrast, the United States Court Tennis Preservation Foundation has built its capital up to the point that it now has approximately $200,000 available for distribution each year to support the game. This includes both top amateur and professional development, support of US national teams, prizemoney and the funding of youth programs to grow their base. With Australia unlikely to have the same ability as the USA to attract significant individual donations, there is a need to establish a broader framework for donations to Australian real tennis.

The ARTA Tennis Development Fund will offer tax deductible donations from the Australian Real Tennis Community (and from overseas donors, though without tax-deductibility) who recognise the need for further investment in the game and have the capacity to contribute either a one-off donation or a smaller regular amount at their discretion. The Fund will not specifically target large donations and will focus for now on regular, direct debit contributions. However, should a member prefer to make larger one-off donations or bequeath amounts, they will be most welcome.

We know that if we get a large number of Australian players making a small monthly commitment, it will over time add up to a considerable amount, and of course these donations are tax-deductible.

The Fund will be managed by a dedicated Investment Committee reporting to ARTA which will comprise financial experts from within the Australian Real Tennis community and will be given control of the Funds’ investment strategy (similar to the successful RMTC Investment Fund).

The Investment Committee will provide a full report on the performance of the fund to you, our members, at each ARTA AGM. It will report on its investment decisions and the returns made during the year.

To enable the Fund to grow, ARTA has agreed that no withdrawals will be made from the Fund for its first five years. After that, any investments will need to be supported by the Investment Committee and have the unanimous approval of the ARTA Committee.