While the focus of the tennis media is firmly fixed on the AEGON British Tennis Series and the forthcoming Wimbledon fortnight, thousands of primary school children are this term taking part in schools tennis competitions.
Right across England, pupils from years 3 & 4 will be taking part in their local School Sport Partnership (SSP) tennis competitions, with the winning schools progressing to county finals.
Around 13,500 primary pupils will take part in the competition nationwide, an increase of around 10% on least year.
Tom Gibbins, Education Manager for the Tennis Foundation, said: “Thanks to the support of our partners the LTA and the Youth Sport Trust, we are committed to making tennis available to schools and kids nationwide.
It’s really exciting to see so many youngsters from primary schools across the country taking part again this year, and I am sure that we can build on this for the future. We’re also really pleased to hear how the new primary resources developed by the Tennis Foundation as part of AEGON Schools Tennis are already starting to make a massive difference on the ground, alongside the ongoing work with the LTA to build school-club links across the county.”
One of the first county finals was Nottinghamshire which took place on Wednesday 9th June at the University of Nottingham Sports Centre. Village school St Michaels Primary, Farnsfield from the Newark and Sherwood SSP emerged victorious after fighting off competition from runners up South Wilford from Nottingham City SSP.
Andy McFeeters, Tennis Development Manager for Nottinghamshire, said: “We had a great day in Nottingham and it was fantastic to see so many children taking part and enjoying their tennis. Well done to St Michaels for their win and some strong performances, but it was also really good to see kids involved who had only recently taken up tennis.”
The LTA and Tennis Foundation are encouraged by increased entries to the competition so far this year, and by feedback from schools taking part.
This suggests that the resources rolled out through AEGON Schools Tennis in the last year – teacher training and resources and free equipment including nearly quarter of a million mini tennis rackets, are having an early impact on the ground in terms of the amount and quality of tennis delivered.
Read more about the event on the Nottinghamshire county site
Find out more about Schools Tennis