Meet Daniel Thorpe, Director, Sobeys Stadium, Tennis Canada
Daniel Thorpe talks tournament readiness, rebuilding courts and recycled balls.
Daniel Thorpe grew up playing tennis in the Greater Toronto Area and began his career at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in event operations (anti-doping). After grad school out west, he worked at the 2015 Pan American Games before joining Tennis Canada, where he’s now Director of Sobeys Stadium. We chatted with him about the challenges of getting a major venue ready for an ATP Masters 1000-level tournament and how the idea of ‘Last year’s balls, this year’s courts’ is playing out at his venue for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
About his work with Tennis Canada, Sobeys Stadium and the National Bank Open presented by Rogers…
I'm the Director of Sobeys Stadium but I work for Tennis Canada. The Federation’s purpose is to champion positive tennis experiences with a mission to lead the growth, development and promotion of the sport in Canada and we’re fortunate to own and operate ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events that alternate between Toronto and Montreal annually. This year, we'll have the men in Toronto and the women in Montreal.
On getting the stadium ready for an ATP 1000 event…
Sobeys Stadium in Toronto is a 15-acre site, with a main stadium capacity of 10,800. Our Grandstand is a temporary build with around 4000 seats, and we have nine other courts on site. We do a very big overlay and temporary buildup for our stadium. So even in our main stadium, 3000 of those seats are temporarily installed on the roof. We build another 6000 seats across the site and a temporary food court village. We bring the site to life with partner activations because tennis is different from a regular event whereby you go to one field, rink or pitch. The festival atmosphere is something we pride ourselves on, especially because we have a very tight construction window that only starts when the snow melts, and then we move into our temporary overlay to bring the site up to speed.
“Laykold is always using technology to continually improve, while also providing a consistent and reliable product.”
On what he’s looking forward to at this year’s tournament…
This is the first time we’re hosting the ATP Tour with a full-capacity crowd since 2018. We held the ATP event in 2021, but we had something like 50% capacity, due to COVID-19 restrictions. So I’m really looking forward to having a full house with the top ATP stars playing in front of a Toronto crowd.
On the tournament driving the future of Canadian tennis…
Tennis Canada is a nonprofit organization and the National Bank Open is the engine that drives revenue for the whole organization. This is how we're able to develop the participation and high-performance programs that grow the sport and propel our athletes to compete and win at the highest level. It’s what helped players like Bianca Andreescu, who won the National Bank Open in 2019, which is great for inspiring the next generation.
On rebuilding Centre Court with Laykold and recycled balls…
With the support of Laykold we’ve rebuilt our Centre Court this year. There was 20 years’ worth of paint and resurfacing, so we scraped off all the old paint with a big blade on a bobcat. And, amazingly, we're using 1400 recycled tennis balls from last year's event as part of the acrylic surface in the new court.
To find a way to put those old tennis balls to good use is exciting and drives the sustainability of the event.
On the long (and sustainable) game…
Tennis court surfaces are often overlooked, much like Wi-Fi, unless there are problems. Ensuring they function properly for the players and look good is crucial. We rebuilt our four practice courts before last year’s tournament, with no complaints. So, we scraped up Centre Court this year, power washed the stadium and finished other construction work, so the remaining court resurfacing and colouring will be completed mid-July. Our approach prioritized sustainability by scraping off old paint, avoiding unnecessary asphalt waste and heavy rebuild machinery, thereby saving costs, resources and improving our environmental performance.
On the stadium’s relationship with Laykold and how they help him do his job…
Laykold has done a lot of work and educated us in terms of the process and rebuild. I deal with countless different suppliers for our facility, so when one brings a great initiative to the table like the RecycleBalls program and provides a solution, it really helps.
You need those folks who push the envelope, looking for new ways to innovate and move things forward. Laykold is very helpful like that - always using technology to continually improve, while also providing a consistent and reliable product.
On deadlines and facility operations…
The thing that keeps me up at night is making sure the right things happen in the right order, because my job is to ensure that the facility is ready, working and the tournament can take place on time.
During Vancouver 2010, a colleague remarked that there are very few jobs on your CV where you can say you have an immovable deadline, but when the athletes are coming for a specific event during a strict time window, there’s no room for manoeuvre. You’ve got to do the preparation and work so you can deliver.
The National Bank Open presented by Rogers takes place at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto 5–13 August. See here for more details.