Brand new floodlights will mean tennis enthusiasts in Wetherby can play longer and later from now on.
Castlegarth Tennis Club completed its £27,000 upgrade with an official switch on ceremony performed by Wetherby’s deputy mayor, Counc Cindy Bentley.
She was joined by Liz Wilson, president of the Yorkshire branch of the Lawn Tennis Association, which covered half of the cost of the work.
The rest was paid for by the club, but chairman Mike Green said the money was a good investment for its future.
“We have five courts” he said “We originally had two floodlit about 12 years ago and we wanted to get the remainder floodlit. The requirement from the LTA is that we try and improve our junior section in terms of offering them opportunities to play and to be coached. We can also offer competitive tennis with the new facilities for clubs all round who might want to play in a league or during the winter.”
After the lights were officially switched on February 27th, members played a tournament before enjoying a barbecue, despite the chilly weather.
The ceremony was also used as an opportunity to present the Tennis Club with the Clubmark award which they achieved in December. Clubmark means that Wetherby are achieving excellent standards with their tennis programme, their club management and action planning and their policies and procedures. The club became the 35th club in Yorkshire to achieve Tennis Clubmark.
Anyone interested in playing tennis, whether as a hobby or aiming to become the next Andy Murray or Serena Williams, is welcome to join the club and use its town centre facilities. Qualified LTA coach Rob Osborne offers group and individual sessions.
There are also three social tennis sessions each week – Sunday afternoons and Monday and Wednesday evenings – with several friendlies every year and a club tournament in September.

This article was taken from the Wetherby news (March 5th 2010)
For more information, go to the club website www.wetherbytennis.org.uk