LTA (Re)Launches ‘Colour Holders’ Programme For All Players Who Have Ever Represented Britain

The first week of December saw The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the UK’s tennis national governing body, roll out a new ‘Colour Holders’ online initiative which sets out to acknowledge and celebrate players who have represented Great Britain at tennis.

From the early 20th Century right up until the 1980s, all players representing Great Britain received a ‘Colour’ – the equivalent of receiving a cap in other sports such as football or rugby and becoming a Colour Holder was indicated with the presentation of a unique shield.

The late 2021 revival of ‘Colour Holders’, which for the first time now also recognises wheelchair tennis players, marks 125 years since the first players competed for the country in tennis at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens and sees the traditional shield given a design refresh refresh and again presented as a new symbol for Team GB Colour Holders.

To celebrate and promote the (re)launch, the LTA  posted a hero video on 26 November – featuring contributions from British tennis legends such as Virginia Wade, Tim Henman and Peter Norfolk – across its digital and social channels titled ‘The Best Of Britain’s Tennis Stars – Re-Introducing Colour Holders’.

1⃣2⃣5⃣ years of history.
3⃣1⃣4⃣ players and counting.

Introducing our Colour Holders Programme https://t.co/cMwzMv4ixg pic.twitter.com/8DO97ptPlp

— LTA (@the_LTA) November 26, 2021

While the core programme content is hosted on a bespoke website which features the collation of historical records and a sequential list of all players to have ever represented Great Britain at tennis in one of the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup (formerly the Fed Cup), Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup or the Olympics & Paralympic Games, plus the Wightman Cup and Kings Cup.

To date there are only 314 players on the list and each one has been allocated their own personal number to reflect their place on the list.

The programme also offers collaboration and engagement opportunities for players and brands and is linked to The LTA’s strategy to open up tennis to many more people across Britain.

“We are excited to relaunch Colour Holders to the British tennis community. Representing your country in any sport is a special achievement, and tennis is no different,” outlined LTA CEO Scott Lllyd. “Through the reintroduction of the programme and the allocation of personal representative numbers to each player, it is an accomplishment that we want to ensure is widely recognised and celebrated for players past, present and future.”

The reintroduction of the programme, which was run in consultation with several former players, was spearheaded by LTA President David Rawlinson who added: “I’d like to thank all of those who have contributed to the development of the new programme. Representing your country provides a status that a player can carry with them for the rest of their lives, and the new Colour Holders programme allows us to celebrate that in a fitting way and ensure our leading players continue to feel a valued part of the British tennis family.”

“It is great that Colour Holders has been revived to acknowledge all the players that have represented Great Britain in tennis,” commented Colour Holder Number 144 Virginia Wade at the programme launch event. “I feel proud to be a Colour Holder – there is great history to this programme and to see so many names on the list is fantastic.”