Britain's first national tennis academies will open in Stirling and Loughborough in '19 in a "bid to boost the number of players in the top 100." The Lawn Tennis Association is setting up the centers as the "first major step in its 10-year project to improve British tennis" (BBC, 6/12).
The National Rugby League instructed referees to stop awarding "nitpicking" penalties as its "officiating crackdown finally ends to ensure free-flowing footy returns." NRL CEO Todd Greenberg and Australian Rugby League Commission Chair Peter Beattie announced on Tuesday that players "can be sin-binned for foul play -- regardless of whether the victim is injured or not -- under a change to the game’s laws and interpretations" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 6/12).
Super Rugby will run uninterrupted for 21 weeks in '19, SANZAAR announced on Tuesday. A New Zealand derby hosted by the Chiefs against the Highlanders, scheduled for Feb. 15, is the competition's first game. The final will take place on July 6. The three-week int'l window that has been disrupting the Super Rugby season in June is not scheduled for '19 because of the World Cup held in Japan later in the year, SANZAAR said (STUFF, 6/12).
The Australian Football League "staged a secret trial of radical rule changes at Etihad Stadium on Saturday." Hawthorn players were reportedly invited onto the "AFL-controlled venue" to complete match simulation and training drills at the league’s request (HERALD SUN, 6/12).
