Lewis Swaps League for Tennis

The Rugby Football League have announced their chairman Richard Lewis will leave his post at the end of April to become chief executive of the All England Club, Wimbledon.

Former Davis Cup player Lewis, who has been with the RFL just short of 10 years, will take over from Ian Ritchie, who left Wimbledon in December to take up the role of chief executive of the Rugby Football Union.

"I leave with a mixture of sadness but also excitement at taking up another wonderful opportunity," said Lewis.

Lewis reached a career-high world ranking of 68 and played in the Davis Cup from 1977-83 before moving into coaching, sports administration and business consultancy.

He will continue in his position of chair of Sport England, a role he took up on a part-time basis when switching from the post of executive chairman of the RFL three years ago.

Lewis was director of tennis at the LTA from 1998-2000 and joined the RFL in May 2002.

"In Richard Lewis we have the person with the right blend of sporting background and management skill and experience to ensure the All England Club and the (Wimbledon) championships continue to go from strength to strength," club chairman Philip Brook said in a statement.

Lewis, who will take up his new role on May 1, added: "As a former tennis professional, the prospect of helping shape the future of the Club and the premier tennis tournament in the world is one to be relished.

"I leave the RFL after 10 fulfilling years during which the sport has grown and prospered.

"I am extremely grateful to all the colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to work. I shall enjoy continuing my role at Sport England albeit with less time commitment."

Tennis and Judo Funds Cut

Sport England have announced six-figure cuts to the Lawn Tennis and British Judo Association's budgets due to disappointing participation figures.

LTA funding has been reduced by £530,000 after a near 25% drop in adults playing the sport since 2008.

Judo has received a £353,000 cut after the amount of people participating in the last two years remained static.

Sport England chief Jennie Price said of the cuts until 2013: "No decision to reduce funding is taken lightly."

Both judo and lawn tennis were part of 46 sports that applied for targeted Sport England funding for the period from April 2009-March 2013.

The amount of money channelled to each sport is reviewed every six months in-line with how well they are developing youngsters, catering to current participants and increasing the number of those taking part.

Last October, cycling, netball and canoeing all received increases after they proved their on-going success in those areas.

The LTA's funding award for the four-year spell now stands at £24.5m after Sport England's Active People survey showed that the average number of adults playing tennis at least once a week declined from 487,500 in 2007-08 to 375,800 in mid-December.

Judo and lawn tennis have both been given new participation targets to meet.

Roger Draper, the LTA's chief executive said: "We recognise that the Active People Survey results are disappointing and accept this reduction in funding.

"We continue to work closely with Sport England in order to grow tennis. Like other sports we face a huge challenge to increase the numbers playing tennis regularly in challenging economic times but participation is our top priority."