Patrick Hieber is a prime example of the American dream. After graduating from college and working as a tennis coach and police officer in Germany, the Hessian found his way back to the States, where he was given the opportunity to work on a first-class tennis project in Charleston, SC.

As General Manager and Director of Tennis at LTP (“Live to Play”) Charleston, he is responsible for a team of twenty dedicated physios, fitness coaches, tennis coaches and sports psychologists, as well as the club’s more than 1,200 members. Behind LTP is now a huge tennis operation that has hosted over ten professional tournaments this year alone - including the Western & Southern Open (Masters 1000), the Credit One Charleston Open (WTA 500), as well as various ATP Challengers, ITF $100,000 tournaments, and USTA National Championships.

The differences between the American and German tennis markets were already extraordinary when Patrick returned to the States. He was particularly amazed by the naturalness with which technologies and digital applications were integrated into everyday life and club activities. Whether training technologies, automatic court irrigation systems, member management platforms, or embedded video technologies.

The offer of video analysis and streaming solutions in the American tennis market is correspondingly diverse. It is almost a matter of good form to provide members, coaches, pro players or fans with quick and easy access to video material. Nonetheless, Charleston is betting on the white boxes from overseas.

“At the time, we were looking for user-friendly solutions that would allow us to differentiate our academy from others and take our practice to a new level. Wingfield’s integrated approach of AI-based video tools and match data helps us to better understand what we should be working on with our players.”

Shortly after, the technology was exported from home, and six courts were equipped with Wingfield’s tracking systems. While coaches initially used the systems primarily in academy practice, more and more recreational players became curious. Today, all club players enjoy the benefit of getting match evaluations, Drill scores, video recordings, and even automated highlight clips of their sessions during weekly social events and smaller club tournaments.

During a beta test phase, Charleston LTP was among the first clubs to enable Wingfields new live-streaming feature on its courts. For Patrick, this meant there was no need to invest in additional camera hardware to broadcast their pro tournaments and reach a global audience. Hieber is also happy about the new marketing opportunities that opened up for the club. “We have been able to expand our existing sponsoring packages with advertising opportunities on the Wingfield platform. Our supporters now get additional visibility in the broadcasts of the streamed matches or can place their businesses on the home screens of our Wingfield boxes. This has been received really positively,” says Hieber.

From time to time, the live-streaming feature is used outside of the pro tournaments. During smaller club tournaments and league matches, the club shows selected matches on the TV screens in the clubs restaurant. It turned out to be a nice upgrade for the live experience on-site. Parents get to see their kids in the livestreams during a tournament. On top of that, members not only get to see more of each other but they can discuss their matches which has a tremendous affect on the social life in the club.