Tennis Beacon Accreditation

AEGON Parks Tennis and Beacon status

AEGON Parks Tennis is part of the LTA’s wider strategy to increase opportunities for people to participate in the sport and access coaching and appropriate competitive opportunities in communities across Great Britain.

To become part of the AEGON Parks Tennis programme, sites must have achieved Beacon status. This is awarded to sites that demonstrate a real commitment to making tennis more accessible and affordable in their local communities to people of all ages and abilities.

Full details on Beacon status are below.

‘A Beacon site provides a quality programme which is affordable and offers some free tennis opportunities for the local community’.

Beacon status will be awarded to sites that offer regular quality and affordable organised tennis activities and also some free tennis opportunities for the local community. They must achieve the following criteria:

• Typically a Beacon will be based on a park site or at a local authority tennis facility with outdoor facilities - some may be based on school sites if the tennis courts are open for community use.
• The site will register as a place to play - places to play registration
• All sites must offer and promote free tennis opportunities for the local community – FREE Tennis Checklist
• Pay and play opportunities must be offered alongside any membership scheme
• When courts aren’t being used for the main programme wherever possible they should be available for free hire
• The site must be committed to delivering and promoting an accessible and affordable tennis programme for all; supervised by licensed and/or registered coaches.

On gaining Beacon Status, the site must also work with their local Tennis Development Manager to:

• Provide appropriate opportunities to increase adult and junior participation.
• Regularly monitor the affordability and accessibility of the programme.
• Create a link to a Clubmark venue with year round facilities (floodlights/indoor courts) if none are available.
• Work with the LTA and Tennis Foundation to promote community tennis in the local area.

What are the benefits of Beacon Status?

The benefits of attaining Beacon Status and joining the AEGON Parks Tennis programme include:

• National recognition as a quality, affordable park or community tennis centre & programme
• A plaque recognising the site as a Beacon
• Ability to use the Beacon mark and AEGON Parks Tennis accreditation on literature
• Face to face support from your local LTA Tennis Development Manager to grow and develop your programme
• Recognition and promotion on the LTA website, accessed by 600,000+ people a month
• Support in generating publicity to assist you in promoting your site to the local community from the LTA Communications Team
• Opportunity to apply to the LTA for capital and ‘kick-start’ revenue funding
• Sites will be eligible to receive AEGON Parks Tennis windbreaks to install on fencing around outside courts
• Places to Play registration*, which has the following benefits:
  - Civil, Employers’ and Directors’ and officers’ insurance
  - Access to BASeline business advice service
  - FREE British Tennis Membership for your tennis members and participants
  - Access to ‘self-service’ to promote your place to play on the LTA website
  - Access to Clubmark, a management resource to professionalise your place to play
  - Access to facility guidance
  - Ongoing ability to apply for capital and/or revenue funding

* Places to Play registration is a requirement of Beacon status, introductory discounts are available for sites that were not previously LTA affiliated.