Another record breaking year for the LTA Pledgeball League

Venues leading the way

The league was hotly contested, with grants of up to £250 available in each of the four rounds for the venue that topped the table, with second place claiming £150, and third taking £100 back to their venue to spend on environmental sustainability related initiatives.

Four venues consistently engaged enthusiastically throughout this year’s league; Norbury Park, Wrenbury and District LTC, Greenwood Park LTC, and Heworth Tennis Club.

Norbury Park LTC, Surrey

June 2^nd place, July 3^rd place, August 2^nd place, September 1^st place

Norbury Park entered the Pledgeball League this year with the intention of making sustainability a part of everyday life at the club. Thanks to the engagement from their members, Norbury placed on the podium in all four rounds, meaning they received numerous grants, totalling £650, this money will enable this ambition to become true.

Auel from Norbury Park LTC said, “We plan to use this grant to procure and install an outdoor bicycle rack for our members to use. We already have a number of members and tennis coaches who cycle to the club, and we hope that installing a dedicated bike rack will encourage even more members to choose cycling as a sustainable way to travel to and from the courts.”

This initiative builds on the venue’s biodiversity garden project, which, since it was planted in 2025, has transformed an unused area of the club into a space that supports pollinators while creating a welcoming and aesthetically pleasing environment for members and visitors .

The club have set ambitions on expanding the pollinator garden further in 2027, creating an even larger wildlife-friendly space within the club grounds, install a few rainwater butts for the garden and a drinking water tower for members.

Auel went on, “The LTA Pledgeball League has been a fantastic initiative, and we are grateful to the LTA for creating opportunities for clubs to take positive environmental action while engaging their communities.”

Wrenbury & District LTC, Cheshire

June 1^st place, July 2^nd place

Ella, Environmental Sustainability Champion at Wrenbury & District LTC, said, “We are absolutely delighted, it was brilliant to see so many of our members get involved throughout the league, and we hope it encouraged everyone to recognise the positive environmental impact of the changes they already make, as well as inspiring them to try new sustainable habits through the Pledgeball challenges.”

The club are planning to use their grants towards installing energy-efficient lighting in the clubhouse. Being located in the countryside, this will not only reduce energy consumption but also help minimise light pollution, reducing the impact on the surrounding wildlife and their natural habitats.

Alongside this, the venue are committed to supporting biodiversity, with two large planters filled with a mixture of perennial and annual flowers, both are maintained throughout the year to provide a valuable source of food for bees and other pollinators.

Ella emphasised, “Environmental sustainability is something we are passionate about, and the LTA Pledgeball League has been a fantastic way of bringing our members together while highlighting the small changes we can all make to have a positive impact. We are incredibly grateful to the LTA for this award and look forward to putting the grants towards making our club even more sustainable.”

Greenwood Park LTC, Hertfordshire

June 3^rd place, July 1^st place

With the increase in temperature this summer leading to extreme heat conditions, Greenwood Park noticed a drastic increase in single-use plastic bottles being disposed of in general waste. Thanks to the grants they have secured this year, there is now going to be a recycling bin on every court, to ensure responsible waste disposal. The club have also pointed out that they are actively encouraging the use of reusable water bottles, with the aim of getting minimum usage from the recycling bins by stopping waste in the first place.

Greenwood Park LTC representative, Gillian, noted that more members have been cycling to the club recently, and when it comes to encouraging more biodiversity, “bumble bees have taken matters into their hands by colonising a crack in the paving near the front club house door !”

Gillian welcomed the grants from the league saying, “This will really help us support sustainability.  Our club is very much a community club where we encourage everyone to come and play tennis, and the LTA Pledgeball League seems to have been a good focus for participation for many of our members and friends.”

Heworth Tennis Club, Yorkshire

September 2^nd place

Heworth Tennis Club got involved with the league when one member of the club saw it being promoted, rallied the troops and soon got other players pledging and thinking about the club’s footprint. Being a smaller club, but with a mightily competitive attitude, the members were motivated when they realised they were edging up the league towards the top of the table, and were thrilled to claim second place in the September round.

Being surrounded by houses in an urban are, the venue has changed their halogen floodlights to LEDs, reducing both their energy usage and the light pollution, benefitting both residential neighbours and local wildlife.

Heworth have also created a wildlife corridor between the courts and the nearby houses. Erica, Chair at Heworth Tennis Club, said, “We still need to cut some of the brambles back every year for access but we are aiming to leave it as untouched as possible, so it will be a haven for small animals and insects. This green corridor also reduces noise and light pollution for the houses behind the courts. Previously lots of members wanted it ‘tidied up’ and everything chopped down, however once we designated it a green corridor nobody complains anymore!”

The venue have suggested that the grant from this year’s league will contribute to several initiatives. The addition of more bike racks, encouraging more members to travel responsibly, is high on the priority list, as is the addition of a water butt. The venue currently uses tap water to hydrate the plants onsite, so will use the grant towards adding a downpipe to the guttering. Part of the grant will also go towards the introduction of a bug hotel in the wildlife corridor, this would be a collaborative project for members of all ages.

The venue look to engage the younger generation in the conversation around recycling and reusing materials, every year they take part in a local scarecrow trail. This is great for community involvement, and also good for the Club as it encourages more juniors to join their programme. This year the venue’s scarecrow was made up of old balls and kit, with children having to guess how many balls were in the whole body of the scarecrow!

On the LTA Pledgeball League, Erica said, “ It got many of our younger team members thinking about what the Club, and they, can do towards better sustainability at Heworth Tennis Club. Team spirit came to the fore and it engendered a sense of fun and friendly competition whilst making people think and pledge to do something different.”  

LTA Coaches League

Kirsty Garrett took the crown in the LTA Coaches League this year, winning herself a £400 Pro:Direct voucher.

Upon hearing about her victory, Kirsty said, “I think people are more likely to replicate behaviour in a sports setting rather than change behaviour because they have been told to do it by people in authority.”

Kirsty spoke about how her venue, Sutton Churches Tennis Club, have planning permission for a climate resilient clubhouse and are working with Climate Outreach and Pledgeball on their Gamechanging Futures project.

Through this project they have upgraded recycling at the club, encouraged more people to cycle and use public transport by adding windbreaks with information of how to get to the club as well as buying new lockable cycle racks. They are now looking at working with a company who will repurpose the plastic rubbish into furniture that can then be used at the club!

Pledgeball at the Lexus Nottingham Open

During this year’s Lexus Nottingham Open representatives from Pledgeball were on the ground, raising awareness of the league, speaking to fans and encouraging more pledges. British tennis star, Alastair Gray, also got involved, learning more about the league itself, as well as joining in some Swingball.

The Pledgeball Podcast

This year the Pledgeball podcast had two episodes with a focus on tennis and its environmental impact, on the first podcast British doubles player Lloyd Glasspool joined CEO of Pledgeball, Katie Cross. The second podcast featured, former British number one, Kyle Edmund, along with the LTA’s Head of Sustainability, and tennis influencer, @rafatennisonly, further raising awareness of both the league and the positive impact that tennis can have in the climate conversation.