ABSTRACT
This chapter first aims to consider 'Victorian garden-party' event through various media narratives related to ideas about British/English national identity. It then aims to position changing behavioural etiquette among male players in the 1980s in a broader context. The chapter finally to critically assess the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA's) key endeavours from the 1980s onwards that sought to instigate widespread "cultural" change in British tennis. Bairner argued that nationalism became more deeply embedded in the processes of sport being developed in particular societies, and this is clear in the British context. Post-war commercialisation and professionalisation of sport provided the basis from which corporate sponsors and the media exploited nationalism to sell their products and services. Tennis academies like Bisham Abbey, opened in 1982, had as their sole aim the development of professional players. Based on consultation with key partners in sport development, the LTA published its first ever national development strategy in 1995.
