TENNIS IKE LEUS – Most of you may be familiar with our photo contributor Ike Leus. He has been working on various projects to improve the visibility of the sport and help players. Our chief editor Ubaldo caught up with Ike to discuss what he has been up to since they last met in Paris this summer.
Most of you may be familiar with our photo contributor Ike Leus from such tournaments as WTA Luxembourg, WTA Linz, Roland Garros, ITF Roehampton (Nike Junior Championships), and similar events. He has been working on various projects and ideas on a voluntary basis to improve the visibility of the sport and help out players with equipment or apparel sponsorship contracts.
Our chief editor Ubaldo caught up with Ike to discuss what he has been up to since they last met in Paris this summer.
During Roland Garros this year, you told UbiTennis your plans for a coach management service. How have your plans been developing?
Yes its is true that back then the main focus was on building an e-booking/management system where players could find a new coach to work with, and reverse. The idea came after talking to a few coaches, and always hearing the issue come back “if a player stops the contract, we’re back to ground zero.”. Meaning, if a player suspends the contract, this coach, even if he is in the top 50, has no right to enter tournaments or grand slam events without a player accrediting him. Thus the “gap in the market”, to create a web/app portal where both parties could connect and the industry behind (academies, federations, etc..) could apply to lease coaches for clinics or events alike.
I had good conversations with Sharapova’s coach Groeneveld, we met on a few occasions. Equally attended the PTCA’s seminar in Paris, where clearly there seemed to be a certain interest in the idea, as the idea behind it is to assure them coaching guarantees. I equally had a very educational meeting with Dirk Hordorff, who’s vast knowledge in the industry only reflects the success the GPTCA (Global Professional Tennis Coaches Association) has seen since its inception. That said, OrangeCoach was the most interested party to collaborate back then. I only saw on their website they have implemented a similar ideology I presented, from there I have not heard back on the matter. Since August I presented these ideas to my well-respected business partner Mr. Suzuki from WiredGate Japan, we are still considering it an active project. We feel that for the Asian market, particularly Japan’s domestic market, a slightly modified version could work. First we need to settle all requirements before moving on with it.
Most people would associate you to tennis photography. You said you have been steering a new direction , can you tell us more about it?
Exactly. The photography part is generally regarded as a passionate hobby. Except for a few chosen ones, in this time and age photography is not a profession raking in enough finances to cover the travel expenses, camera equipment and assure a living. This is why, over the last 2y have been slowly searching new ways to make it worth the while.
Since the photos attract visibility, many know you from “the photos”, so you are using them to move to these new markets?
When used right, it’s a great marketing asset to have. This is why I decided to gradually get more involved into the sports management market. That said, it is a work in progress, requiring a lot of involvement and volunteering before I would dare call it a viable business model.
You mentioned before that you already were actively working on new projects involving finding sponsorships and helping players on a voluntary basis.
Correct, last year I had approval from Tonic by Hingis for 2 players, one was Katarzyna Kawa (POL), the other Diana Marcinkevica (LAT). They had the advantage of free high quality apparel, I had the agent-benefit to poll the corporate market by hearing if there were companies interested in the advertisement benefits from sponsoring an athlete throughout his or her career. That said, it was educational, but didn’t reap in any big contracts as the B2B advantages were not high enough to an audience with constantly growing return of investment expectancies.
Keeping in mind it is all still in its voluntary state, I do have benefits. May it not be in cash, good relations with serious businesses in the surrounding industries are golden assets to have.
After recent articles from ITF players complaining the expenses associated with playing tennis are becoming hard to bear. What are your opinions on this matter?
There is a certain truth in those stories. Yet it has to be said that everybody has to go through the phase of hardship. The true talents and upcoming stars will always rise from the common. There will always be some who complain, but nobody steps up to a representative of the ITF or holds an argument in real life. Nowadays the trend is to spark a hype on web or social media and hope their matchstick will create a forest fire.
It does not require a genius to perceive that in the real world there are also a few selected rich/upperclass, a larger group of middle class, and a significant group of poor/less-gifted individuals. Formula 1 has 22 drivers for the entire season, Tennis has over a 1000 both on Men and Women’s side. Normal for the ITF to protect their investment in a sport they pursued maximizing the international recognition for a century since the start of their federation. Those athletes bringing the most visibility to the sports, will always get the biggest part of the cake. Cause they generate new tournaments to be organized, meaning new opportunities and chances for lower ranked players to elevate their proper ranking. One can not expect from the ITF to start incentives like pension savings or similar, this is not their core activity.
We assume you came into contact with many players who are going through the term you refer to as hardship, can you practically explain the process?
I recently negotiated with Nastja Kolar (SLO), her season high WTA was 178. She used to be ranked 4th in the world during ITF Juniors. Very few tennis fans will know her name, she is quite an underdog and currently underestimated as a player. I predict her to be top 100 in the next 2y, with option to breach the top 50. She could have been nr1 in the Juniors, but they pulled her out too fast to play Pro tournaments.
Obviously still very young (15y) when her management back then, let her play Pro tour & WTA International tournaments. Since the age of 16 she rarely played without injury or pain, the move to try and “cash out” on a junior prodigy resulted in pushing her from one injury into the other. Now that I am working with her, I feel the right approach is to let her stabilize first. She is gifted and highly talented, this does not evaporate in thin air. There are already interested sponsors in my portfolio, so everything to motivate her to recover and play hard is there. I assure you, when this pony learns to balance her power, she can turn the stable upside down.
When there is a will, there is a way, you just have to keep trying & stay motivated.
How do you base your choices, and how will it progress?
I admit that I, just like any agent or manager out there, am pretty hooked on ranking graphs, injury statistics, and very peculiar player assets. Actually, because most of the top 100 players are locked to agencies with a pedigree list of prior athletes, It proves hard to get any credibility with a high ranked player without “pedigree” myself. They are predominantly looking for agencies they pay to handle everything, where I don’t charge the player yet agree on commissioning if I find a new contract for them. Let’s not forget the key of volunteering is to give lower ranked the chances and opportunities to develop themselves, they do generally not have the financial funds to permanently travel with a coach or physio. So I have to keep the church in the middle and offer a service that does not conflict with their personal planning or drain them from the start.
Don’t the players expect a level of assurances before they trust you to negotiate in their name?
Many ask why I do this, I simply answer that many of these players will get deceived during their career by people who try to use them with alluring terms that are hard to perceive in a realtime ever-changing market. If there is trust, there is no need for a prior contract. Keep it simple, give your word not promises, and when there is a sponsor, I will negotiate with both parties so both get the satisfaction they perceived to get. This is not a marriage where both parties attack each other with lawyers when things go bad.
I want to see them feel the value of teamwork in an individual sport. The goal is to make the player willing to focus on their team to become better. Too many seem to be wasting useless energy on jealousy towards other players, why? This servers no purpose, and it doesn’t strike professional towards potential sponsors either.
This was our interview with Ike. Please feel free to comment below with your opinions on these incentives and new ways to promote tennis and/or help players.
If you would like to see more interviews of this kind of nature, please let our editorial team know.
