Children help mark major milestone for AEGON Schools Tennis

Around 100 Edinburgh school children gathered at the Meadows Tennis Centre on Thursday to take part in a mass coaching session to celebrate AEGON Schools Tennis being close to signing up 15,000 schools.

Working in partnership with the LTA and the Tennis Foundation, with their continued commitment to invest in tennis at all levels of the game, AEGON have now almost reached a major milestone of signing up 15,000 schools, which equates to more than half of all schools (primary and secondary, state, private and special needs) in Great Britain, to AEGON Schools Tennis.

Children from five local schools; Sighthill Primary, Pirniehall Primary, St. David’s RC Primary, Niddrie Mill and St. Francis RC Primary School, were keen to show off their new tennis skills inspired by recent British success. 

The children were joined by local coaches from Tennis Scotland and Edinburgh Leisure and a number of Scottish based AEGON FutureStars players Calum MacGeogh, Cameron Bowie, Alex Mikheev, Jamie Dobie and Jacob Fearnley who train with The Tennis Academy Scotland at Merchiston Castle School.

British doubles and Team AEGON player Colin Fleming talking about his own development said; "It’s great to see an event like today's in my native Scotland, with kids from around Edinburgh getting the chance to pick up a racket and get some expert coaching.

"It has been a great year for me personally and for British tennis, which combined with these types of grassroots initiatives from AEGON, will help inspire children to give tennis a go and lead to future success for British tennis."

Eleven year old Nicole Wilson from Pirniehall Primary said, “Today has been an amazing chance to get to play tennis, here at the Meadows Tennis Centre. I have enjoyed the day and it’s been really fun. I love watching Andy Murray so it’s been great to see him on television and then to go out and play.”

Also in attendance at the event were Tennis Scotland CEO David Marshall, Tom Gibbins, Head of Education of the Tennis Foundation and AEGON Head of Sponsorship, Ian Murray.

Tom Gibbins, spokesperson for the AEGON School’s Tennis programme commented: “Today has been a great opportunity to showcase school kids getting involved and enjoying tennis. We took the children through a number of different exercises, teaching tennis skills in a fun and engaging way whilst also educating them on the wider health benefits of regular sport.”

Ian Murray, Head of Sponsorship at AEGON said; “It has been great to see all these children here today showing off their new tennis skills as we approach the significant milestone of 15,000 schools signed up to AEGON Schools Tennis.

"Today we have been able to combine this programme with our local initiative by inviting children from some of the schools we help support through the AEGON Breakfast Club, which is all about giving children a healthy breakfast to start the day. This fits well with our healthy lifestyle message around encouraging kids to be active."

As Lead Partner of British Tennis, AEGON supports British tennis at all levels, from grass roots through to world-class tournaments. For more information visit: www.aegontennis.co.uk