Further education

Red Ball

Red Ball tennis is a fun accessible version of tennis.  It is played on a smaller court using red felt or sponge balls which makes the game accessible to all abilities. A red court can be set up across full size tennis courts, inside on a badminton court or anywhere there is enough space to put up a net.  The Red Ball resource contains a range of fun games and competition activities.    

Red Ball Tennis – Games and Competition

If you are looking for fun accessible competition formats, head to the Competition section below where you will find intra and inter college Red Ball event formats.

Cardio Tennis

Cardio Tennis is a fitness-based programme which combines tennis with cardiovascular exercise. It is high energy and can be used when teaching tennis or fitness schemes of work. The 6 session plans are based on tactical themes and each lesson includes suggested strength and conditioning exercises to maintain students’ heart rates when they are not hitting.   

Cardio Tennis

We’ve created a range of resources that use tennis to support delivery of units from BTEC Sport qualifications (2016 and 2019 specifications). The schemes of work and presentations all have practical applications and real-life examples from the world of tennis.

The aforementioned resources can be found below:

Unit 03 - Professional Development document (2016)

Unit 03 - Professional Development presentation (2016)

Unit 04 - Nutrition document (2019)

Unit 04 - Nutrition presentation (2019)

Units 12 and 07 - Practical Sport document (2019 & 2016)

Units 12 and 07 - Practical Sport presentation (2019 & 2016)

Units 12 and 07 - Tennis Skills, Techniques and Tactics pdf (2019 & 2016)

Unit A - Careers in Sport and Active Leisure document (2019)

Unit A - Careers in Sport and Active Leisure presentation (2019)

Unit B - Health, Wellbeing and Sport document (2019)

Unit B - Health, Wellbeing and Sport presentation (2019)

Unit C1 - Developing Coaching Skills document (2019)

Unit C1 - Developing Coaching Skills presentation (2019)

For students interested in getting involved in coaching, more information is available on our Coaches page. If you're interested in officiating, visit our Tennis Officials page.

Colleges can arrange to host private coaching qualification courses for their students through the regional Coach Development Centre (CDCs). CDCs are comprised of hub and satellite venues. Colleges looking for coach support and work experience for players should also contact a CDC. Information and contact details for the CDCs are available on our CDC page.

Interested in hosting private officiating courses, including the Tennis Competition Organiser course? Please complete the below form under 'Keep up to date'. There are also a range of free resources to support colleges in delivering competitions. You can find these on our Organiser and Official Resources page.

Foundation students may benefit from taking part in the Tennis Leaders programme, which is the LTA’s fun and exciting youth leadership programme for students of all abilities. The programme is accredited by SLQ Sports Leaders, who we've worked with to ensure the core leadership skills of communication, self-belief, teamwork, self-management and problem solving are embedded throughout the course. For further information and to order resources, visit the LTA Youth Tennis Leaders page.

Year 11-13 Competition

This competition is designed to encourage recreational to competing players to play competitive tennis and provide the team with an opportunity to compete in Regional Finals. Entries open early September with local league matches being played from November to January. Winners of the local leagues progress through to the knockout rounds from January, with the Regional Finals taking place in March. Here's a bit more information on the Year 11-13 competition:

• Players must be in Years 11-13 and born between 1 September 2004 and 31 August 2008 inclusive.
• Players must have an ITF World Tennis Number (singles) between 20.0-40.9 (or no ITF World Tennis Number) as of 8 November 2023. A player with a singles ITF World Tennis Number of 19.9 or higher on 8 November 2023, will be ineligible to play in the competition. A player who increases their singles ITF World Tennis Number to 19.9 or better after 8 November 2023 will still be eligible to compete.
• Boys and girls events to enter
• The boys and girls events require four players with the format being four singles and two doubles rubbers
• Each rubber is one set
• All matches are Grade 7

Entries for 2023-24 are now closed.

If you have any questions, please email schoolscompetition@lta.org.uk

AoC Sport Competitions

AoC Sport host regional tennis competitions in the Autumn Term.  Find out more and enter via the AoC Sport website.   

NATSPEC Competitions

Disability tennis opportunities are part of the regional and national NATSPEC competitions in partnership with AoC Sport and supported by our local Disability tennis coaches from local Open Court tennis venues. We believe this is a vital step towards getting more disabled young people attending community based tennis sessions and competitions.

Red Ball

Red Ball tennis is a fun accessible version of the game. The intra and inter college formats below can be adapted for the time, space, number of players and the ability of students involved.

Red ball - Intra College

Red ball - Intra College Scorecard

Red ball - Inter College

Red ball -  Inter College Scorecard

We are commited to ensuring more disabled students get the opportunity play and compete in tennis while within the FE setting.

Since the beginning of 2019 we have supported over 30 College sites to begin playing tennis, link with a local Open Court venue and access relevant local recreational competitions. We work closely with AoC Sport and their Inclusion HUBS to create more inclusive tennis offers across both curriculum and community settings. 

We want to help colleges develop strong relationships with tennis coaches and venues, to encourage staff and students to play within their community. Find local tennis venues and coaches near you. 

Our Open Court programme provides disability specific and inclusive sessions, focusing on learning disability tennis, wheelchair tennis, visually impaired tennis and deaf tennis. Find out more about our Open Court programme and venues.

Opening up colleges’ tennis facilities to allow community access helps to develop links with, and provide opportunities for the local community, as well as providing an income generation opportunity. The LTA can provide support to colleges who would like to provide community access to their courts through gate access systems, venue management tools and marketing and court booking tools.   

Colleges who already open their tennis facilities to the community can access venue management tools, and marketing and court booking tools by completing full LTA Venue Registration here. It is free for education establishments and you can register below.

LTA Venue Registration

We work with universities all over the nation to help more students enjoy tennis, whether that be through social tennis, workforce development or performance.

Students looking to continue their education at a university can find out more about university Tennis below:

Learn about university tennis

You can find which universities we partner with on our university partners page. Any colleges interested in establishing a link with a university should use the form at the bottom of this page to contact us.