Oxfordshire’s Alison Jackson named Official of the Year at 2021 LTA Tennis Awards
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Alison Jackson has been crowned a national winner at the prestigious LTA Tennis Awards..
Jackson, from Abingdon, scooped the LTA’s Official of the Year Award after being recognised for consistently going above and beyond in tennis and becoming an Oxfordshire role model in the process.
Jackson operates at Appleton with Eaton Tennis Club,and has adapted innovatively to the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic, shown a willingness to learn and implement new restrictions and made a consistently outstanding impact on tennis both regionally and nationally.
She was announced as the winner by news anchor and journalist Natasha Kaplinsky at a live-streamed awards ceremony presented by Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.
The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their sixth year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.
And Jackson was hand-picked as one of 16 national winners recognised at the awards ceremony last Thursday, which honoured individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county, regional and national level.
Nominations were drawn from over 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and over 9,000 LTA approved tournaments, with Jackson recognised for her inspirational work in the area.
She’s helped blaze a trail for tennis officiating across Oxfordshire, immediately recognised the importance of delivering Covid-secure tournament and shown a sustained appetite for immersing herself in the strategies being employed by the LTA.
Jackson is an experienced referee who works tirelessly to ensure her competitions run smoothly, are diverse and inclusive, and that the environment they take place in is safe for all participants. During the pandemic, Alison produced Covid guidance tailored to the individual requirements of each competition and came up with innovative ideas to enable events to go ahead.
The quality and quantity of the nominations demonstrate outstanding work that has been done in tennis through the pandemic and David Rawlinson, LTA President, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.
“They celebrate the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.
“The past year has been challenging for everyone, but to see the tremendous positive contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting.”
National Runners Up
Jacob Miles
Jacob Miles is a regular presence either as a chair or line umpire at international and domestic tennis tournaments and chaired over 100 matches in the first two months after the resumption of the Tour last summer. Jacob is a member of the LTA White Badge Development group for aspiring ITF International Chair Umpires, whose leaders have been impressed by his ability, organisation and professionalism.
Kelly Thomson
Kelly Thomson is a highly respected umpire and review official who is dedicated to ensuring the strengths of all officials are recognised through her work moderating and evaluating chair umpires at British tournaments. Kelly worked as part of the ITF “Advantage All” project to encourage females into officiating and continued her many administrative roles within tennis in 2020 by initiating online sessions and presenting webinars.
LTA Official of the Year 2021 – National Shortlist
- Michael Atherfold from Cheshire
- Simon Corbishley from Gloucestershire
- Colin Haldenby from Scotland
- Alison Jackson from Oxfordshire
- Jacob Miles from Sussex
- Olwyn Roy from Wales
- Kelly Thomson from Lincolnshire
