Tennis Auckland has announced today that Graham Pearce, their CEO for 21 years, will step down from this role later this year. In making the announcement Board Chairman, Alan Chester, took the opportunity to note the significant contribution that Graham had made to tennis in the Auckland Region and the sport generally. “Graham’s contribution has been immense from the development of the ASB Classic and Heineken Open tournaments into world class events, to his election as the Tournaments’ Representative to the Global Board of ATP for three successive terms. Within the Auckland Region the building of the Scarbro Tennis Centre, which is also the base for the development of our junior tennis talent, has been a huge success, while the health of Clubs in the Auckland Region is testament to his hard work and dedication ”

In addition, Alan Chester said he was pleased to be able to announce that Graham will continue his involvement with Tennis Auckland working closely with a yet to be appointed replacement CEO coordinating the ASB Tennis Centre re-development and related projects, as well as continuing on the Board of ATP. In stepping aside as Tennis Auckland’s CEO Graham Pearce commented “I have been privileged to work with a fantastic team at Tennis Auckland and have had tremendous support from the Auckland tennis community and clubs. Most importantly I have had fun and enjoyed my 21 years. I look forward to working on the re-development of the ASB Tennis Centre to turn that into a world class facility for the future benefit of tennis in New Zealand." 

This planned move is designed to provide an orderly succession and strengthen Tennis Auckland’s management of its major developments over the next few years.Tennis Auckland  has appointed Sportspeople Executive to assist the Board with the search and selection of the new Chief Executive Officer. Details of the role are now available at the Sportspeople website:  http://www.sportspeople.co.nz/sp/position/PositionDisplay.asp?ID=9245  Confidential enquiries can be made to Robert McMurtrie, Sportspeople’s Managing Director on NZ FREECALL 0800 634 388. Applications close 22 May, 2009.