Developing Management Guidelines to Promote Excellent Tennis for Youth in Chengdu

Background and Aims: Tennis is gaining popularity in Sichuan Province, especially among youth in Chengdu, but its development faces significant challenges in management, accessibility, and structured promotion. Key obstacles include the lack of systematic strategies, limited resources, inconsistent training programs, and a shortage of qualified youth coaches, which hinders players from reaching their potential. Nonetheless, sustainable youth tennis development requires substantial investment in facilities, coaching, and equipment, alongside stronger collaboration between clubs, schools, and sports organizations to establish a well-structured pathway for long-term growth. Therefore, this research aimed to develop management guidelines to promote youth tennis excellence in Chengdu. Methodology: The population of this research was 383 young tennis players, 17 tennis coaches, and 12 tennis club managers from 5 tennis clubs in Chengdu, namely, Chengdu Qingshenglan Tennis, Chengdu Wuhou Tennis Center, Qikeshu Tennis Club, Huoshan Tennis Sports Center, and Chengdu Hi-Tech Tennis Center. A sample group consisting of all 17 tennis coaches and 12 tennis club managers. Using the Krejcie & Morgan table, 191 young tennis players were chosen as the research sample to investigate the current situation and challenges of promoting excellent tennis for youth in Chengdu City. In this research, 7 experts were invited for interviews to draft the components of the management guideline. Additionally, 10 experts participated in a focus group discussion to develop management guidelines. Following this, 7 experts were invited for a connoisseurship discussion to confirm the developed management guideline. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. The IOC value was as follows: questionnaire for students was 0.80, questionnaire for tennis coaches and tennis club managers was 0.92, and expert interview outline was 0.87. Results: The results showed that the management guideline was organized in 10 aspects as follows: (1) Financial Support with 3 elements; (2) Integrated Policy Development with 3 elements; (3) Foundation and Participation with 3 elements; (4) Talent Identification and Development with 3 elements; (5) Athletic Career and Post-Career Support with 3 elements; (6) Training Facilities with 3 elements; (7) Coaching Provision and Development with 3 elements; (8) (Inter)national Competition with 3 elements; (9) Scientific Research and Innovation with 3 elements; (10) Stakeholder Engagement and Governance with 3 elements. Conclusion: Following validation through the connoisseurship method, all seven experts unanimously agreed that the developed management guideline to promote youth tennis excellence in Chengdu provides a comprehensive, practical, and contextually appropriate framework, aligned with local conditions. In addition, the management guideline developed in this research can also be applied to areas beyond Chengdu. The management framework can be adapted appropriately to different contexts and situations to support the development of youth tennis players toward excellence.