When Bulat Utemuratov joined the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, this organization was stagnant. The tennis players did not show impressive results and the officials did not know how to improve the current situation. Utemuratov brought to the KTF a modern approach to setting and achieving goals that is used in business. The multifaceted goal setting had to fundamentally change the slow tide of tennis life in Kazakhstan.
Having headed the Federation in 2007, Bulat Utemuratov expressed long-term plans approved by the International Tennis Federation. The main one was to turn tennis into a mass sport. For this, it was necessary to work in three directions together: develop an infrastructure, train and support coaches, participate in competitions. They began to translate plans into actions without delay.
Tennis courts throughout the country
In 2006 there were 60 courts in four regions of Kazakhstan. The courts did not meet the requirements of international standards and did not meet the basic needs of the athletes. Under the leadership of Utemuratov, the construction of courts began in all the oblast centers of the country. Currently, the courts number almost 250. Modern tennis centers have been built in each of the 15 regions of Kazakhstan. They are facilities that meet all the requirements of sports infrastructure; they can host competitions both nationally and globally.
The recently opened tennis center “Ace” in Almaty has 4 indoor and 6 outdoor courts with a total area of 8100 square meters with a “hard” coating. All courts have lighting that meets the requirements and standards of international television broadcasting. The center can host ATP Challenger tournaments in the summer. The amount of investment in the project, between construction, equipment and landscaping, exceeded 5 million dollars.
Bulat Utemuratov believes that tennis infrastructure should be easily accessible and available on demand, which is why courts are being built within walking distance of densely populated places. So, as the fees for the training sessions should be moderate, now they are between 18 and 30 dollars per month for 12 sessions in the regions and 45 dollars in the capital. The number of people willing to play sports is growing geometrically: in 2007, only about 500 people played lawn tennis, today – more than 6000.
Children’s programs as a basis for the popularization of sport.
In his role as head of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, Bulat Utemuratov pays particular attention to children’s sports. The “Under 10 Tennis” program is a social project that aims to train a new generation of athletes capable of defending the country’s honor in the best world tournaments. The main idea of the program is to start the training process as soon as possible. It is for this reason that the program began to operate in kindergartens in different regions of Kazakhstan. “Tennis under 10” units 40 schools and 24 preschool institutions. The “Tennis under 10” program is included in the international ITF Junior Tennis Initiative program for children under 12 who play tennis. Bulat Utemuratov fully financed this project and competitions for the next 3 years.
The second large-scale program for children is the School Tennis Initiative. The project was launched in 2008. Its goal is to increase the number of tennis players throughout the country by introducing tennis for children aged 4-6 in preschools and children aged 6-10 in schools through mini-tennis. Mini-tennis allows you to master the basics of the game on the court in a fun and entertaining way, using the game approach in training.
Team Kazakhstan Tennis Academy – casting of champions
The Team Kazakhstan project was launched by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation in 2008. The field of its activity is the education of future national team participants in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup. The KTF provides the full funding. In September 2008, the first admitted Kazakhstan team students and coaching staff were sent to Gorin Tennis Academy, USA to improve their skills. In 2009, the Dutch expert Eric van Harpen was invited as head coach. In the same year, one of the world’s leading experts, Pole Michislav Boguslavsky, joined the project as head coach of youth body conditioning and general sports training. Since then training camps have been held at Bruguera Tennis Academy (Barcelona, Spain), Pro World Tennis Academy (Miami, USA), Gorin Tennis Academy (California, USA), Tennis Val Tennis Academy (Valencia, Spain).
Young athletes have already shown good results in international and national competitions. Among them, Gozal Ainitdinova, Dostanbek Tashbulatov, Timur Khabibullin.
Team Kazakhstan Academy students have won more than 80 international tournaments, including several Grand Prix. In 2017, the Kazakhstan team in the category “under 12 years” became the champion of Central Asia. Kazakh tennis player Gozal Aynitdinova is the champion of Asia in the category “up to 14 years”. Representatives of Kazakhstan’s youth tennis regularly win awards in Europe.
Victories, achievements, results.
The Kazakhstan men’s team has repeatedly entered the quarterfinals of the prestigious Davis Cup tournament, beating such eminent teams as the Czech Republic (2011), Austria (2013), Belgium (2014), Italy (2015) and then the world champion Argentina in 2017 and returned to the World Group. In February 2018, a team of Kazakh tennis players defeated the Swiss team early and reached the quarterfinals of this prestigious tournament. In the Fed Cup, the Kazakhstan women’s team reached the playoffs twice.
Around 40 international ITF, ITF futures, ITF Juniors, ATF and ATP Challenger tournaments are held in Kazakhstan every year. The most important tournament in Kazakhstan is the President’s Cup. This tournament is part of the ATP Challenger series, and the women’s tournament is in the ITF series. In addition, Kazakhstan has repeatedly hosted international Davis Cup and Fed Cup World Group tournaments.
