LTA Tennis Foundation Charity Partners attend All Star Event at the UTS Grand Final London
• 3 MINUTE READ
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is a new, year-long tennis league that brings together some of the biggest players in the men’s game to compete in a series of competitions, leading up to the UTS Grand Final London, that was held between 15-17 December.
The competition uses modern and innovative formats and rules to create shorter, action-packed matches that centre around strategy and suspense.
On the Thursday prior to the tournament, a special “All Star Event” takes place, and 10 LTA Tennis Foundation charity partners had the opportunity to attend this invitation only experience.
This event offers fans the chance to see players take part in a series of games designed to showcase the skills tennis players need - and the LTA Tennis Foundation charity partners were able to get up close and personal to the on-court action for a once in a lifetime experience.
During the event the team caught up with some of the children and young people who were lucky enough to attend, one young person from Greenhouse Sports said, “We have never been so close to the tennis before, we have been able to watch a lot of tennis players today, and it was really fun, we really like the shots they did, it was pretty unbelievable!”
Experiences like this are invaluable to the young people supported by the LTA Tennis Foundation, and chatting with one of Greenhouse Sports coaches, they commented, “The school we are at, and the area we are in, tennis is seen as inaccessible and none of the girls had played before they joined Greenhouse Sports.
"I think coming to an exclusive VIP event like this, with a smaller crowd, where they get to see some of the world's best players up close is just brilliant. I am hoping when we get back to school, these girls will be inspired to play and be the best they can be, it is a wonderful experience and a wonderful arena, and we are very fortunate to have been invited here.”
In addition to watching the games one LTA Tennis Foundation partner, Give It Your Max, were surprised with the opportunity to be ball collectors when they arrived – they did a great job, and we are sure it is something they will not forget in a hurry.
As well as support through the LTA Tennis Foundation grant making programme, the team always try to offer unique experiences to their charity partners. Sophie, Senior Development Manager for Access Sport, added, “Thank you so much to the LTA Tennis Foundation for inviting us to the UTS Grand Final London.
"Providing our young people, who have already benefited from the Foundation’s support, the opportunity to attend this event was brilliant. So many of the young people feel inspired after watching these world-class athletes.”
The LTA Tennis Foundation was the official charity partner of the whole event, and in addition to attending the All Star Event, a charity raffle took place across the weekend raising vital funds for the Foundation.
Hannah Simpson, Fundraising Lead for the LTA Tennis Foundation said; “Thursday was such an amazing day, and it was great chatting with the children and young people from our network. They were really excited to be there, and when I spoke with them, so many said they had never experienced anything like this before.
"It was a great set up, so we would like to extend a huge thank you to the team at UTS for enabling this to happen and the wider support from the event.”
Find out more about the LTA Tennis Foundation’s charity network.
