Monday 15th March
A trip to the sunny south coast today, for a Road Show in Bournemouth at the West Hants Club.
Here, we were joined by Simon Wergan, Head of Talent & Competition at The Youth Sport Trust. Simon heads up the team of 225 Competition Managers that work across the England, co-ordinating priority schools competitions for 16 sports. For us, they focus on the Year 3 & 4 Mini Tennis Competition in Primary Schools and Year 7 & 8 Competition in Secondary.
15,000 children took part in these events in 2009 and this is expected to be even higher this year – keep your eye on the website for reports from County Finals, taking place during June and July.
For more information and support on running competition in schools, view the Schools Tennis Competition Guide
Quote of the day:
From Julia Lane, School Sport Co-ordinator for Dorset;
"The new Secondary Schools Tennis resource is fantastic. I will go away from today and get all my schools going - I even booked in a course before I left!"
Miles travelled so far:
1,976
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Thursday 18th March
A double header back at base today, with 90 people attending morning and afternoon sessions at The National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
We stepped aside today for the professional blog writer to take over, Alexandra Willis from Ace Magazine. Read and see more about her visit to the Road Show.
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Friday 19th March
A full house of 60 joined us today in the old Aircraft Hanger (previously used as a film set for Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers), that is now David Lloyd Hatfield.
Celebrity Spot – at lunch, delegates spotted the actors that play Max and Bradley Branning in Eastenders enjoying a game of tennis on Court 3.
Another week complete; Paul and Phil headed back to base and Tom headed North to Bolton, for the AEGON Team Tennis Schools Senior Students Finals, taking place over the weekend.
Quote of the day:
From Cefyn Jones, Head of PE, Falconer Special School
“Not a wasted minute! So much great stuff; resources, teaching, coaching – I am so pleased to have come – many thanks!”
Miles travelled so far:
2,028
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Friday 26th March
What a way to finish the tour…
Shortly after breakfast, Paul’s upper back and neck went into a major spasm and he wasn’t able to move. An unsympathetic Tom and Phil informed the hotel staff that their colleague in Room 117 was having a few issues and made their way to the Tennis Centre at Stirling University to set up.
Meanwhile, an ambulance had been called, Paramedics administered gas and air to assist in moving Paul from the hotel room and he made his way to Stirling Royal Infirmary, where he remained for the rest of the morning.
The Show must go on. Tom and Phil delivered the morning’s programme to an enthusiastic group of 35 and were joined by Sophie Ashcroft and Kevin Cater from AEGON, the Lead Partner of British Tennis.
We collected Paul from the hospital on the way back to Edinburgh airport, who had since been discharged and given the all clear to fly.
The 5 week tour comes to an end and it seems to have been a great success...
Having travelled 2,740 miles, we’ve seen 650 school sport representatives, 97% of attendees have rated their experience as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ and 98% have said it has inspired them to develop tennis further in their schools. We’ve distributed over 3,000 free resources and over £16,000 of free Schools Tennis equipment vouchers.
Here’s to 2011!
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For more information on Schools Tennis, visit the Tennis Foundation website
Read the blog from the third week on the tour
Back to Guest Blogger
Images courtesy of Graham Flack