tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26919459.post-90489917483900840352008-07-16T11:22:00.003+01:002008-07-16T11:31:07.617+01:00I was interested to read in <a href="http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/830579/FRONT-PAGE-Max-Clifford-help-shed-tennis-middle-class-image/">PR Week </a>that Max Clifford has been hired to ‘help shed tennis’ middle-class image.’ Having been the lucky ballot winner of front row seats at the spectacular final recently I can safely say that he will have a tough job with tickets such as mine at £90 a head and the price of a salad at around £15. I’m not complaining; it was worth every penny (perhaps not the salad) but being a ticket holder at this prestigious event for the first time I was struck by the difference in experience between the determined member of the famous queue and the honored ticket holder. For anyone who has stood in that queue, and I have done my fair share of queuing in the past, you can wait for hours on end, generally in the rain (if you’re me) and then you can queue again once in the grounds in the blind hope that you will get a return for one of the main courts. It takes about as much determination and willpower as it does to win Wimbledon. The class divide is then further emphasized by the Debentures who pay a high price for guaranteed tickets and their own exclusive restaurants.<br /><br />The suggestion that tennis could be used to coax children off the streets and get them fit is a great idea and also good public relations spin as it fits the agenda of tackling obesity and crime in young people; topics which regularly feature in our media industry analysis. Whilst I’m all in support of making tennis free of charge at local authority tennis courts there is a long way to go to tackle the image of exclusivity which is propelled by events such as Wimbledon. Champagne and strawberries anyone?JenniMitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995892864807193735noreply@blogger.com