Meet the board
The Tennis Wales Board has ultimate responsibility of the affairs on the Company and ensuring the Company is managed efficiently, effectively and in line with the requirements of the law, the Rules of LTA, to consider the requirements of the LTA and Sport Wales, and the functions laid out in the Company’s Articles of Association.
Details to follow...
Neil O'Doherty has 30 years business experience gained in some of the UK's largest Brands. He recently retired from his position of HR Director at Europe of Clarks, one of the longest established and most trusted brand in the country. He brings outstanding experience of building and sustaining high performing teams.
Neil is also an active member of Penallt Tennis Club, captaining the Men's team and serving on the club committee. A resident of Monmouth, Neil enjoys his time outside work and tennis with his wife, Alison and their three children.
Patsy Roseblade has over 20 years experience working at senior levels in the NHS. She came to Wales in 2012 to join the Welsh Ambulance Service as Director of Finance and ICT ultimately becoming Interim Chief Executive for a period of time before moving to other health organisations.
Patsy plays tennis in Abergavenny as well as in her beloved home town of Crickhowell. She truly regrets not ‘finding’ tennis until into her forties but works hard to catch up on lost time! Outside of work and tennis Patsy enjoys spending time with her husband and two grown up children and, whilst very much still a beginner, is learning to play the piano.
James Armstrong has 20 year’s experience working in a range of different business roles across the Financial Services market. Starting his career as an Actuary at Lloyds Banking Group he then moved to consultancy with Deloitte based in London. In 2014, he returned to Wales as Group Chief Risk Officer for Admiral Group plc where he serves now. He brings a wealth of financial, risk management and corporate governance experience to the Board.
James is also an active member of Radyr Lawn Tennis Club in Cardiff where he is Men’s captain and serves on the club committee. He’s also a member of David Lloyd Cardiff and enjoys the benefit of indoor tennis on the odd rainy day in Wales! His wife, Becky, and their three daughters are all active members of the club too.
Hannah joined the Board in May 2022 and is a partner at an international law firm. She is multi-lingual with experience spanning a top tier global investment bank, a blue-chip multi-national conglomerate, a governmental institution and top international law firms in London, Milan, Paris and Brussels. Hannah has advised boards and their businesses on policy making, fundraising, risk development, finance transactions and restructurings to name but a few.
Hannah is also a former junior and senior Welsh international, South Wales County player and earnt Blues while reading law at Cambridge University. Most recently Hannah represented Wales at the Senior Four Nations.
Lucy joined the Tennis Wales Board in April 2018, after being elected to represent North Wales at the North Annual Open Meeting.
Lucy also sits on the North Wales Management Committee and currently works for the FAW Trust as Colliers Park Facility Manager in Wrexham. Lucy was previously the General Manager at Wrexham Tennis Centre and prior to that was the Head Tennis Coach and Manager at Durham University.
Lucy is a Level 4 coach and coach education tutor, and is North Wales County captain for the U10, U11 and U12 girls teams.
Lucy has been involved in tennis over 20 years, having competed for Wales and North Wales at both junior and senior age groups, and the GB Universities Student team. Lucy received a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the University of New Mexico where she attended on a full tennis scholarship and later received a Masters in Marketing from Durham University.
Michael joined the Tennis Wales Board in May 2022.
Michael has been part of senior leadership team’s delivering some of the biggest global sporting events and currently works as a senior corporate communications manager at Manchester United Football Club. Michael has played tennis in Mold and Wrexham from an early age and is extremely passionate about improving the accessibility and visibility of the sport across the country.
Sophie joined the Board of Tennis Wales in July 2020 after being elected at the South Wales Annual Open Meeting in November 2019. She is a shareholder and director of Watkins and Gunn solicitors an award-winning South Wales legal practice; where she heads up the Family Law Team. Away from her professional life Sophie has been a keen tennis player from a young age; playing for many years at Radyr LTC. Her family moved away from the area whilst she was at university, but after a spell living and working in London returned to the Welsh Marches.
Sophie was previouly the Chair of Monmouth Tennis Club and helped raise grant funding for a new gate access system and the re-surfacing of the clubs courts; an investment of nearly £40,000 in the facilities.
Sophie is married with 2 adult sons, neither of whom share quite her passion for the game – but she continues to work on them! Sophie is looking forward to supporting Tennis Wales to achieve the future vision for the game in Wales.
Bethan joined the Tennis Wales Board in October 2020 as a director.
Bethan has over 12 years’ experience in public relations and is founder and director of Brandrocker, a brand strategy consultancy based in Cardiff. Given her love for sport, she is also a freelance sports reporter and has interviewed world number one athletes as well as celebrities and members of the Royal Family at events.
Bethan started playing tennis aged eight, and to date, has represented her club, county and country. She was awarded a full tennis scholarship at Virginia Tech University, USA where she gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Marketing.
Bethan is currently a member of Cardiff Lawn Tennis Club and has previously been a representative of the club’s committee.
Anthony joned the Board in May 2022 and is a chartered surveyor dealing with commercial property, formerly with BNP Paribas but now running his own property company. He has been vice-chair and chairman at Windsor Penarth LTC, leading projects to install the first artificial clay courts in Wales, to host the only British Tour Tier 1 professional tournament in Wales, and to bring the first Padel court to Wales.
Nigel joined the Tennis Wales Board in May 2020 and is a semi-retired barrister and Tribunal judge specialising in family law and immigration and asylum cases and has been a member at Glamorgan LT & CC for almost 40 years, serving as secretary for 20 years and chairman since 2016. He has also been a member at Bridgend LTC and Cowbridge LTC and has served as chairman at Cowbridge too.
I have been involved in Tennis my whole life, having started playing at the age of 5 at Cardiff Castle LTC. I have played and coached across Wales and also worked for Tennis Wales in a variety of development roles between 2009 and 2015. I still enjoy playing and I am currently a member at Penarth LTC.
In my day job I work for Swim Wales as Head of Aquatic Development. My role is quite simply to support a nation to become aquatically active. There are a number of crossovers within these two roles and I am incredibly proud and excited to help the Tennis Wales board and team in opening up Tennis in Wales.
Lucy joined the Tennis Wales board in July 2022 . She is the Co-Founder of an accountancy services business that has grown from strength to strength in the last 16 years. She is a big advocate for inclusion for all and is a long-standing supporter and mentor of young people through the Princes Trust. She also supports inmates in their return to society.
Lucy is a former GB powerlifter who won the British Championship in 2016 at U72kg. A fierce advocate for women in the sport she has created and continues to drive representation for women in Powerlifting as well as sitting on the Welsh Powerlifting Association Committee.