Landmark day for indoor tennis centres in Scotland
• 4 minute read
Work began on a new tennis centre in Scottish Borders on the same day as the official opening of the Dumfries and Galloway Indoor Tennis Centre - in what is a huge boost to year-round access to tennis in both regions.
Three covered tennis courts and two covered padel courts are being built at the new £64m Galashiels Academy school campus, with the centre due to open early in 2027. The community facility will provide the first covered courts in the region after receiving just over £1.5 million from the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis (TSIT) fund, operated by the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation, sportscotland and Tennis Scotland.
The new courts will enhance an already thriving tennis community in the Scottish Borders, where there are 12 registered clubs and more than 1500 playing members. With a firm focus on growing participation among all ages and abilities, and accessibility, the courts are certain to provide an all-year round base from which the sport will continue to grow.
On the same day, representatives and officials from Tennis Scotland, the LTA and sportscotland visited the new Dumfries & Galloway Indoor Tennis Centre at the King George V Sports Complex. During the event, pupils from local schools were able to make free use of the courts to take part in a tennis festival, while a plaque was unveiled in memory of well-known local wheelchair player Keith Thom, who was a huge inspiration for the tennis community in Dumfries & Galloway and beyond.
The centre opened to the public earlier this year with schools, clubs and players of all ages and abilities already making use of the three courts. The new centre provides an excellent opportunity to grow tennis participation in the area, giving clubs and players the chance to play year-round and removing the weather as a barrier to playing time.
Nearly £1.7 million of funding from TSIT has helped make the Dumfries centre a reality. That amount includes a loan of just over £200,000 to Dumfries and Galloway Council. Alongside the loan, the council provided nearly £500,000, while The Holywood Trust, a local charity which helps young people in the area, made a significant contribution of £200,000.
Under TSIT, the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation, sportscotland and Tennis Scotland are working together to invest in Scotland’s indoor tennis infrastructure. TSIT is designed to support innovative and creative projects to meet local demand and fill the geographical gaps in indoor tennis provision that currently exist across Scotland. At £15 million, TSIT is the largest capital investment programme in the sport’s history in Scotland, and the aim is to create more and better opportunities to play tennis all year round.
Galashiels Academy will become the fourth TSIT site, with further new facilities having opened at Oriam in Edinburgh and Moray Sports Centre within the past two-and-a-half years.
Blane Dodds, Chief Executive of Tennis Scotland, said: “This is an exciting day for everyone involved in tennis and padel. Both centres will help us achieve our aim of making tennis and padel more accessible and inclusive by providing opportunities for the whole community, no matter the weather.
“Indoor centres offer so many benefits, from providing year-round play to increasing participation, growing performance programmes, hosting competitions and developing the workforce.
“Tennis and padel are both flourishing in Scotland with more people playing than ever before, so investment in outstanding new facilities like these is vital to meeting that demand."
Craig Burn, Director of Sport for sportscotland, said: “It was fantastic to visit Galashiels and Dumfries to see the progress being made at both projects. Both facilities will be huge assets to both regions for years to come.
“We are committed to removing barriers to sport wherever we can. Being able to provide both tennis communities with somewhere to play the sport year-round and remove weather as an obstacle is something everyone involved in both centres can be hugely proud of.”
Scott Lloyd, CEO of the LTA said: "This is about much more than new tennis courts. It is about creating opportunities, inspiring more people to get active and ensuring that communities have access to tennis all year round.
"Both facilities will help unlock the sport for future generations, and we are delighted to have worked with our partners to deliver a venue that will make a real difference for many years to come."
Councillor Tracey Little, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, said: “Our council is delighted that the facility has been officially opened today. An indoor tennis facility is something that local clubs and communities have strived towards for decades, so to be able to deliver this state-of-the-art facility is a huge asset for the town of Dumfries and the region as a whole. I hope the various community groups enjoy the facility.”
Leader of Scottish Borders Council, Councillor Euan Jardine, said: “It is tremendous that just a month on from the funding being approved we’re able to start work to deliver this fantastic facility alongside the development of the outdoor sport facilities at Galashiels Academy.
“This is a long sought after facility within the local tennis community and it will provide so many opportunities for people of all ages to take up a racket and get active all-year-round. It will also provide the facilities to support our rising stars to train and play locally in perfect conditions.”
