The President of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Peter Bretherton praised Somerset tennis clubs and coaches this week for their outstanding work in improving access to the sport for local people of all ages and abilities.

Bretherton visited the county to see for himself how the region is producing a high standard of community-focussed and performance-based programmes, and to witness the benefits of the LTA’s investment in local facilities. Bretherton met volunteers, coaches, officials and players of all ages as he toured the Avenue Tennis Club in Burnham on Sea, Heathfield Community School, Wellington Tennis Club and Taunton Tennis Centre during his two-day visit.

The visit, organised by Somerset Lawn Tennis Association, demonstrated how the county’s top clubs are attracting new players, improving player programmes and offering opportunities to play to all members of the community.

Bretherton’s first stop was at Avenue Tennis Club on Tuesday evening, where he was introduced to a forum of 15 officials from north Somerset clubs by Nigel Barker, chair of Somerset Tennis and an LTA councillor.

Barker said: “Having Peter Bretherton here provided a great opportunity for our club chairmen to meet the LTA President for the first time. We wanted to find out from clubs what they’re needs are and what they want from the LTA.

“It’s up to us as an association to be a bridge between them and the President and this was the perfect way to do that. Peter was able to meet officials and face their questions. We could listen and learn, and will act on what came out.

“Our goal is to expand the game by building clubs and getting more players involved, especially from state schools where we haven’t always had a lot of young people playing,” he added.

The following day Bretherton visited Heathfield Community School in Taunton where PE head Matt Bernard is driving a tennis coaching and competition programme for children of all ages through lessons, club time, practices, internal tournaments and inter-school matches. LTA small grants have helped the school buy equipment such as rackets and balls, while it’s also attracted sponsorship from local company Western Power.

Thanks to Bernard’s efforts, tennis is now the most popular summer sport for children at key stage four, while all nine of the school’s courts are filled with players every lunch time and more than 100 key stage three children take part in extra-curricular tennis sessions. About 750 children play tennis each year, some 75 per cent of the school roll, while it’s under 13 boys and under 15 boys and girls teams finished second to Millfield, the nearby independent school, in county competitions last year.

Bernard described Bretherton’s visit as a “fantastic” boost for Heathfield tennis.

“To have the President of the LTA here to see a selection of our players is just incredible,” he said. “These are young people who have got into the sport through school, played at school, and then some of them go on to play at Taunton tennis club.

“They genuinely love tennis,” he added. “They weren’t brought up to play tennis by their parents, they’ve just had the opportunity to try it. It shows there are lots of keen players out there.”

Bretherton also met players and officials at Wellington Tennis Club where new floodlights, paid for with £20,000 from the LTA, have ignited the club’s recent growth to nearly 100 members, 40 per cent of whom are juniors. Together with Wellington Mayor Andrew Govier, Bretherton met club chairman Carl Puzey, who said:

“For a small two-court club like us, it’s a real honour to have the LTA President come to visit us. He could see that we are a club that caters for all ages, right from the very youngest, and that we welcome everyone whatever their ability.

“We’ve existed for 60 years, but the floodlights have made a huge difference; they’ve expanded everything the club can do. We can now play all year and have extended our junior coaching sessions at weekends. We’re also leafleting new housing estates and the local sports centre, and holding free cub nights for non-members. New people are joining every week.”

Finally, Bretherton joined Taunton Mayor Jefferson Horsley at Taunton Tennis Centre where he saw 16 of the best under 10s from all over the south west being guided by Taunton’s chief coach, Simon Woodhill.

The visitors also admired the club’s two-court indoor “bubble” opened in 2007 thanks to a £250,000 LTA grant. Based at a site run by the local trust, Tone Leisure, the Taunton club now has six indoor and six outdoor courts; it’s an LTA beacon site and satellite performance club with more than a 100 adult members as well as 100 juniors who compete regularly.

Kerry Quirk, the centre’s Tennis Manager, said: “This was an ideal opportunity for us to show the LTA what we do. We are the leading club in the county, have a great team of coaching staff, and run a performance programme for children from all over Somerset.

“But we also provide year-round opportunities for anyone to play, from tots of two and a half to local people in their 80s. We run lots of coaching courses and thousands of people every year book to pay and play on our indoor and outdoor courts.”

James Deem, the LTA’s Tennis Development Manager for Somerset and Dorset, added: “Having the LTA President in the county meant we could show the clubs and players that the LTA supports what they’re trying to do. It also gave Peter a chance to see the progress being made by Somerset clubs which have had LTA investment.

“Somerset is a relatively rural county and this was a great opportunity to showcase what we’re doing to provide tennis for everyone from the grassroots through schools to clubs and competitions.

“The tennis places he’s seen will get a great boost and sense of pride from such a high profile visit while he’s had a chance to see how it all fits together.”

For more information please contact:

Laura Whitehouse

LTA Communications Manager

laura.whitehouse@lta.org.uk 

0208 487 7193

07779 001601

Notes to Editors

• The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body for British tennis, which supports and governs the sport

• Improving places to play is a major priority for British Tennis. All clubs receiving investment are required to be Tennis Clubmark accredited, or working towards Tennis Clubmark are required to demonstrate increases in participation as a result of the investment

• AEGON Parks Tennis is delivered by the LTA in partnership with the Tennis Foundation and is helping to increase access to tennis in parks and local communities across Britain. AEGON Parks Tennis is part of British Tennis’ commitment to increase opportunities in the sport and grow the game at all levels

• Clubmark provides clubs and other places to play tennis with the tools and resources they need to ensure they are delivering a quality tennis development programme and operating in line with best practice

• The LTA’s facility investment programme is supported by Whole Sport Plan funding from Sport England. A major investor in British Tennis through the LTA, Sport England supports the LTA’s work to increase and sustain participation and identify and develop talent, including through substantial investment in facilities improvements. The focus of investment is on increasing floodlighting, indoor courts and air halls, all of which make a huge difference to the number of playing hours in winter.

• AEGON is Lead Partner of British Tennis, and supports the game at all levels from grassroots programmes such as AEGON Schools Tennis and AEGON Parks Tennis, through to supporting British talent in the AEGON FutureStars programme and Team AEGON. It is also title sponsor for the British Tennis Series, of grass court tournaments, including the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club.  For further information visit www.aegontennis.co.uk 

To find out where your nearest court is, visit: www.lta.org.uk/playtennis  

For more information on the LTA and British tennis, visit: www.lta.org.uk