Some years ago, soccer's national body scrapped about 20 associations around the country and replaced them with seven federations. Six or seven years on, the move still has as many in favour as against.
Today, at a meeting in Wellington, 40 Tennis New Zealand delegates face the same dilemma, witha plan to revamp the association's administration.
"At present we have 25 associations and want to reduce that to six regional centres," said Tennis NZ chief executive Don Turner. "By doing that we will change the landscape of New Zealand tennis."
Should the proposal get the required two-thirds majority, smaller associations, including Thames Valley and Counties Manukau, will have to make their call on whether they join Auckland or Waikato-Bays (based in Hamilton). The other centres will be at North Harbour, Central (Wellington), Canterbury and Southern (Dunedin).
The proposed revamp has a financial fish-hook hanging over it.
In a "reject it at your peril edict" from Sparc, the funding agency made it clear their $2.1 million package over the next three years would go.
At the time soccer made the same move, the then-Hillary Commission came down in the same manner.
The restructuring proposal follows recommendations from the T21 Committee established after the 2004 annual meeting and the Maiden Committee voted in at the annual meeting a year later.
Under the new structure, Tennis NZ estimates its annual revenue will grow from $1.4 million this year to $3.1 million in 2009. Among other benefits, Tennis NZ say the sport will, for the community, "become easier to understand". It also promises improved service to its associations/clubs through "increased and consistent services".
Turner admits that if the votes go the "wrong way" today, there is no alternative.
That does not bear thinking about given the struggle the sport is having internationally.
