From its advent in the 19th century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialized and professionalized high-performance sport, tennis reflects important themes in social history, says Robert Lake.

He will draw on these themes in his free public lecture entitled “From Amateur to Professional: The Enduring Challenges of Social Exclusivity in Tennis Development,” Friday at noon in room 145, Human Kinetics Building.

An instructor in the Department of Sport Science at Douglas College, Dr. Lake is the author of A Social History of Tennis in Britain. His areas of research specialization are sport history and sport sociology, with specific interests in the sport of tennis and subjects related to social class, gender, nationalism, coaching, talent development, and policy.

His appearance in Windsor is part of the Faculty of Human Kinetics Distinguished Speakers Series.