FAGE LTA Youth Schools and Sonay Kartal celebrate 30,000 teachers trained to deliver tennis nationwide
• 2 minute read
FAGE LTA Youth Schools, the LTA’s school tennis programme, is celebrating a major milestone with 30,000 primary and secondary teachers now having been trained to deliver tennis in classrooms nationwide.
The programme provides free teacher training for schools that sign up, as well as free teaching resources, to help give more children the opportunity to pick up a racket and play at school.
Data from teachers who have taken part in the training indicate that 99% believe their teaching has improved as a result of FAGE LTA Youth Schools; 91% of teachers have either already increased, or will increase, the amount of tennis they teach; and 89% of teachers feel that playing tennis has improved their pupils’ confidence.
To celebrate the milestone, British No.2 Sonay Kartal visited her old primary school in Saltdean, Sussex, to take part in a tennis session with year five pupils delivered by teacher Mrs Becky Latter.
After taking part in a classroom Q&A session, Sonay showed off some of her skills and gave pupils some tips as they got to grips with their new rackets and balls – gifted to each pupil taking part thanks to the FAGE LTA Youth Starter Offer.
This offer provides a racket, balls, access to free taster sessions and an LTA Advantage membership for just £4.99.
Check out the FAGE LTA Youth Starter Offer
Learn more about FAGE LTA Youth Schools
“When I was a kid, tennis was a still a niche sport and there wasn’t much tennis going on,” said Sonay after taking part in the lesson.
“The fact that Becky is one of 30,000 teachers that are now trained to deliver tennis is incredible. Becky’s role is super important for this school, and hopefully other people will get inspired and are going to want to do the same; the more Beckys there are in schools, the more it’s going to entice kids into wanting to play tennis.”
As well as providing free teacher training to over 30,000 teachers, since FAGE LTA Youth Schools was launched in 2020, more than half of schools in Britain have registered with the programme.
When schools’ teachers complete their training, the school also receives a £250 voucher from the LTA Tennis Foundation to spend either on new equipment or on sessions with an LTA-accredited coach, which creates links to further opportunities to play outside the school environment. To date, almost 10,000 schools have fully completed their training, with more than £2.25 million in LTA Tennis Foundation vouchers awarded.
On the work of the programme, LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd said, “Since launching in 2020, FAGE LTA Youth Schools has made a significant impact making tennis more accessible for schools across Britain and has become a major part of our vision of tennis opened up.
"By training more teachers to deliver tennis, the sport is becoming a more regular feature of the curriculum nationwide, making it easier for pupils from all backgrounds to pick up a racket, experience the benefits our sport can bring, and develop a lifelong passion for tennis.”
Start your kid's tennis journey
Get your kids playing and loving tennis with the FAGE LTA Youth Starter Offer - including a tennis racket, balls, access to free taster sessions and an LTA Advantage membership for just £4.99.
