Welcome to the IC of Bolivia!

We are very pleased to announce that the creation of the new IC of Bolivia was formally approved at our AGM in July and warmly welcome their members to our IC community.

Bolivia celebrates a rich tennis history, which started with the arrival of British and North American immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century, who worked in railroad construction and mining and began practising the sport in mines at Uyuni and Oruro. The Bolivian Tennis Federation (FBT) was founded on 24 March 1937 in Catavi (Potosí) with the aim of organizing and promoting tennis, and is now affiliated with the ITF and the South American Tennis Confederation.

Today, there are around 16,000 active tennis players in Bolivia. Nearly 10,000 of these are ranked in the National Federation, and 12 players have also been ranked within the ATP or WTA. The country has 32 clubs spread across nine ‘departamentos’, including three centenary clubs: National Tennis Club Oruro, Tennis Club La Paz and Cochabamba Tennis Club. Other major clubs are in Santa Cruz and other cities, including Sucre and Tarija. The clubs have served as meeting places for people of different backgrounds and have promoted values such as discipline, respect and teamwork.

Discussions around the creation of the IC of Bolivia started at the IC Centenary celebrations at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in August 2024 – which were followed up with approaches to professional players to secure their support. At the start of 2025, the founding team worked alongside the IC Council and members of the ICs of Argentina and Uruguay to create the statutes for a new IC of Bolivia, and held a founding day with their 19 founding members to establish the Constitution on 1 March in La Paz.

The founders presented their plans at the IC AGM on 6 July and the creation of the IC of Bolivia was formally approved.

From this point, the board of the IC of Bolivia plan to:

• Hold their first AGM
• Onboard around 20-30 new members
• Set up a philanthropic programme that will offer tennis coaching for disadvantaged children in key cities around Bolivia
• Start the organisation of an IC of Bolivia Invitational event for 2026 – working with the ICs of Argentina and Uruguay
• Work with the IC Council to create the IC of Bolivia website and social media pages.

Please join us in welcoming the IC of Bolivia to our IC community!

Report on 2016 IC AGM

Morning Workshops:

1.Website

The websites are now 5 years old and due for an update

Social media demands that they should be smartphone/tablet compatible

Work has begun on Philanthropy site. This will be followed by GB site and then Council site.

All other sites will have the new look and feel by March 2017 and updates will be carried out remotely.

2. Match making

We have a full 2016/2017 calendar with events scheduled as follows:

Final of The Compass IC  Junior Challenge - Monte Carlo ,  Sept 2016

Columbus Trophy,  New Delhi, November 2016

Juego de Pilote, Brussels  Aug 2017

IC Week Berlin, 20 August 2107

La Carreta Bulgaria Sept ? 2017

We then have IC Weeks or celebratory events  planned for Japan 2018, France 2019, S Africa 2020, Belgium 2022, GB 2024 (centenary)

See calendar for full details

3. Philanthropy

Report given by Barry Weatherill and Boyd Cuthbertson of latest list of 12 projects

Philanthropy is financially robust

Achieved full Charitable Status

More projects are now requested

New Philanthropy tie available and scarf will be available by end August

2016 AGM

Attended by 54 people representing 37 countries

Council Executive Business plans for 2016 have largely been achieved or exceeded

New brochure planned by end 2016

Increased grants available for Council sponsored events

Officers re-elected for further 3 year term:

Thierry Pham ( permanent member)

Des Shaw (Australasia)

Alex Kurucz (Europe)

Julian Tatum ( events and special projects)

Peter McQuibban (Chairman)

Andrew Ambrose (Hon Sec)

Mike Carroll( Hon Treasurer)

Chris Appleton (Independent Examiner)

Council Finances are in reasonably healthy, but not excessive situation