Irish Tennis coach Dave Miley will see his name appear alongside some of the most famous names in Tennis this September when he is awarded the prestigious ITF Award for Services to the Game, at the ITF AGM in Cancun.
The ITF Coaches’ Commission, made up of some of the world’s top tennis instructors, decides on the award, giving it to one coach each year who is judged to have made a big impact on tennis internationally. In honouring Miley, who has been Tennis Director for the Kazakstan Tennis Federation since 2020 and who was Director of Development for the ITF between 1997 and 2015, they are elevating him to the ranks of such famous names as Nick Bollitieri, Dennis van Der Meer, Judy Murray, Conchita Martinez, Toni Nadal, Jim Loehr and Louis Cayer.
On hearing of his nomination, Miley said: ‘This is a great honour for which I am truly thankful for especially as it comes following the nomination of a group of my peers in coaching. Tennis to me is not a job. It is a way of life. I have devoted my adult life to growing and developing the sport I love and receiving an award such as this is very gratifying. It also motivates me to find even more ways to contribute to Tennis and as Tennis Ireland’s candidate, I am hopeful that I can be elected to the ITF Board of Directors at the 2023 ITF AGM in Cancun in September.’
Congratulating Miley on the award, President of Tennis Ireland John Ryan said: ‘The Tennis community in Ireland is rightly proud of Dave Miley. His work over the past three years with Kazakhstan, which saw Lena Rybakina crowned Wimbledon Singles Champion in 2022, has been outstanding and before that, during his years with the ITF, he was responsible for many innovations which have stood the test of time and have benefitted our sport.’
Noting also that the award for Miley comes as Irish Tennis followers were excited to see ‘one of their own’, Fergus Murphy, umpire the recent Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon, Kevin Quinn, CEO Tennis Ireland, added: ‘It is fantastic to see people like Dave and Fergus, and also Grainne O’Neill, who recently won an ITF award for her work on Women in Tennis, get international recognition.
Tennis Ireland’s job now is to build on this momentum to bring results on the courts too. Our aim is to widen our sport’s appeal, by improving access to facilities, increasing participation and supporting more players to successfully compete on the international stage. I am confident that with our new strategy, as well as advice from figures as knowledgeable as Dave and Fergus, we can make great strides.’
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