Tennis NZ appoints National Sport Development Manager

Tennis NZ has appointed Chris Mundell in the new position of National Sport Development Manager. This role is responsible for increasing tennis participation in New Zealand while supporting clubs/venues, national programmes, and coaches.

Mundell comes to us with 10+ years of experience working in New Zealand sport leadership roles primarily in tennis, cricket and most recently as Game Development Manager for Auckland Rugby.

In his role with Auckland Rugby he lead the design and implementation of a new Game Development Framework and strategic implementation of initiatives in the areas of coaching, participant development and female participation.

His sports sector experience also includes leading the creation and alignment of High Performance, RSO, and Community level strategies.

In tennis he is most well known as the President of West End Lawn Tennis Club in Auckland, one of the largest clubs with over 450 members.

Chris also brings 20 years of coaching experience to the role in both tennis and AFL allowing him to understand the challenges faced by coaches here in New Zealand. He also has been involved in the delivery and facilitation of coach education and development courses across a number of sports.

“I am excited to join the Tennis NZ team. Having spent a large part of my life involved in community tennis I look forward to being able to bring my professional experience to my true passion. I look forward to getting stuck in as we continue to grow and develop all areas of Tennis in NZ,” said Mundell.

“Having spent 15 years involved in tennis club committees as both a volunteer and Club professional coach I understand the challenges facing community clubs in a crowded sporting landscape and look forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge from across the sporting sector to really see tennis clubs and communities thrive.”

Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson is looking forward to Mundell in his role and his skills, knowledge and experience working in all aspects of sport development.

"We are delighted to welcome Chris to the Tennis NZ team in the newly named role of National Sport Development Manager. There is no questioning his experience and expertise. Chris will lead the existing development team, with his primary role to drive the implementation of the next cycle of participation growth within the tennis in NZ strategic framework. I look forwarding seeing Chris build on the successes achieved in recent years,” said Paterson.

Chris will be joining the Tennis NZ team starting 7 February 2023.