Category: Coaches

  • LTA Safe to Play Annual Safeguarding Conference – 3rd October 2026

    LTA Safe to Play Annual Safeguarding Conference – 3rd October 2026

    The LTA Safe To Play Annual Safeguarding Conference is to take place online virtually on Saturday 3rd October 2026 between 9am and 3.30pm.

    Please use the link below to register your attendance for the day.

    https://web-eur.cvent.com/event/291575b8-450e-419d-aac7-e5842f633888/summary

    Everyone who attends will receive one year extension on their safeguarding training and coaches and officials will be rewarded with four credit points.

    There’s a broad range of exciting sessions relating to safeguarding lined up, aiming to cater for everyone attending whatever your role and level of experience. 

    Even if you cannot attend on the day please sign-up to ensure you can access all the content post event and receive your credits.

    The agenda is being finalised but sessions include a panel of Young Persons Welfare Ambassadors, specialist input from a range of safeguarding experts to understand what working together in safeguarding really means, and hearing from parents to understand the important role they have in supporting their child and embodying positive behaviours. There will also be a number of breakout sessions covering equality, diversity and inclusion, learning from serious cases, neurodiversity, anti-doping and integrity, Padel, and managing difficult situations.

  • 2025 Award Winners

    2025 Award Winners

    Each year, the LTA Tennis Awards highlight the incredible achievements and contributions of people across Britain.
    Launched in 2015 with the help of former LTA president Cathie Sabin OBE, the awards recognise the many thousands of inspirational individuals involved in tennis, dedicating their precious time and energy; 25,000 volunteers, 4,672 coaches and 975 officials. They also highlight the incredible achievements of some 22,000 schools, 2,768 clubs and over 9,276 LTA approved tournaments. The contribution of these individuals and venues helps to bring fans and players closer to the game we all love.
    Winners are judged from over 2,000 public nominations and are first judged by 38 County Associations, resulting in 380 County award winners who are then put forward for Regional awards. Finally, the Regional winners are put forward for the National LTA Tennis Awards alongside winners from Tennis Wales and Tennis Scotland.
    In addition to the LTA Awards Wiltshire Tennis also awards for contributions and efforts in additional categories.

    This years awards was hosted by Bechtle in Chippenham our thanks to James Napp and his colleagues for putting on a fantastic evening.

    LTA Awards

    Club of the Year

    Royal Wootton Bassett Tennis Club

    2025 Club of the Year

    In 2025, this club has focused on building club pride by growing participation, strengthening community spirit, and expanding playing opportunities.
    They offer a strong programme of social tennis, including organised midweek doubles sessions for both members and pay-as-you-go players.
    They fielded 15 Summer and 4 Winter teams in the Swindon & District League and hosted 16 external events including the County Adults Play Your Way to Wimbledon Finals and the Junior County Championships.
    To attract new members, they introduced Free Friday Club nights, showcasing their friendly, welcoming atmosphere and well-maintained facilities.
    Alongside tennis, their pickleball community has flourished, offering twice-weekly play and contributing strongly to the social side of the club.
    The coaching team deliver a full junior and adult programme and also run 3 weekly after-school clubs at local primary schools.
    They run a weekly Wheelchair Tennis session and a Swindon Parkinson’s Walking Tennis sessions reflecting their commitment to inclusive sport.

    Coach of the Year

    Peter Evans

    2025 Coach of the the Year

    Since becoming Head Coach at Chippenham TC in 2022, this coach has transformed his club, revitalising its coaching structure, re-energising the membership, and creating a thriving, inclusive environment for players of all ages and abilities
    He has expanded the junior programme by almost 300%, growing participation from 47 to 173 juniors and has strengthened and expanded the adult coaching pathway, which is now full to capacity
    One standout achievement is his commitment to supporting and retaining girls in tennis
    He is committed to making tennis accessible to all and delivers term-time school sessions for partially deaf children and those with ADHD or social challenges, many experiencing tennis for the first time.
    He leads a highly committed team of six coaches at Level 3, Level 2 and Level 1—two of whom came through his own coaching pathway.
    One of his coaching team said “It is a pleasure to work alongside such a hardworking, dedicated, and caring person—he inspires confidence, joy, growth, and community in equal measure, and we all feel incredibly lucky to be part of his team”.

    Award was collected on his behalf.

    Competition of the Year

    Chippenham Tennis Club Junior Championships

    2025 Competition of the Year

    This competition embodied everything that makes community tennis thrive — excellence in organisation, a welcoming atmosphere, innovative delivery, and a strong commitment to inclusion, safeguarding, and enjoyment.
    The competition featured a range of age categories from 8U to 18U, ensuring every junior at the club could participate, regardless of experience or ability.
    A defining feature of the championships was its commitment to inclusion. The event actively encouraged participation from juniors across all backgrounds, abilities, and experience levels.
    Reusable cups and recycling stations, were available, reinforcing the club’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
    It inspired young players to enjoy the game, develop their skills, and connect with others and it stands out as a shining example of what a local competition can achieve.

    Lifetime Achievement Award

    Liz White

    2025 Lifetime Achievement

    This person has contributed tremendously to the success of tennis in the region.
    She joined Riverside Tennis Club over 20 years ago and soon became an invaluable member of the Committee taking on the roles of Match Secretary, Ladies’ Captain and, more recently, House and Grounds Lead.
    This volunteer has also led the club Team Selection Committee and has been the club’s match secretary and Ladies Captain for many years and has been instrumental in helping the club grow the number of players competing in the club teams.
    In addition to these roles at her club, she also currently runs the local league, the Sarum League and has run many Wiltshire Ladies’ Veterans teams. She has also served on Hampshire’s Apsley League committee for many years.
    As well as contributing with her organisational and administration skills, she is also very practical and continues to spend at least one day per week working on the club grounds, courts and club house.
    This person has been a key person on the club Development Committee which has helped the club develop rapidly over the past few years.

    Official of the Year

    James Allen

    2025 Official of the Year

    This person referees county level tournaments of a superb standard and receives wonderful feedback on his competitions.
    This official has run over 20 county level tournaments at Devizes Tennis Club throughout the year.

    Some feedback from players and parents includes:
    “He has run one of the best U12 comps my son has played.”
    “A well organised tournament once again by the friendly and helpful referee.”
    “One of the best referees I have come across so far.”

    Park Venue of the Year

    Victoria Park Community Tennis

    2025 Park Venue of the Year

    For over 26 years, this Park has been a trailblazer in community tennis provision.
    As one of the UK’s first community park tennis centres, the venue has consistently demonstrated innovation, resilience, and a profound commitment to making tennis accessible to everyone.
    It’s ethos has always been Tennis for All, open to every age, ability, background, and gender. They have truly embraced the concept of “tennis opened up”.
    The centre provides six outdoor courts, including four floodlit courts, and offers rolling memberships alongside a comprehensive Pay & Play structure. All coaching, club sessions, and group activities are open equally to members and non-members, removing barriers to participation.
    They have created strong and lasting partnerships with local schools and offer a comprehensive junior and adult programme.
    They have also demonstrated exceptional leadership in health, wellbeing, and inclusion and run sessions with Headway, provides free, coach-led sessions for people facing substance and alcohol misuse and work with NHS Mental Health teams.
    Its achievements over the last 12 months highlight a venue that not only delivers tennis but enriches the lives, health, and opportunities of its entire community.

    Protect where we play

    Swindon & District Tennis League

    2025 Protect Where we Play

    Back in 2022, the 26 tennis clubs that participated in this league decided to undertake a tree planting plan, with the objective of ‘offsetting’ the League’s carbon footprint both for travel and floodlighting.
    They purchased 180 trees through Tree Nation, which are due to offset 18 tonnes of CO2 in their lifetime.
    At the time of writing, they have purchased a total of 849 trees across 1.38 hectares, thereby offsetting 277 tonnes of CO2 so far.
    The league also encourages the recycling of tennis balls.
    This league continue to encourage clubs that participate in their League to do whatever they can to enhance the sustainability of the League by driving down carbon emissions and aspire to be an inspirational example to other Leagues in the UK.

    School of the Year

    St Marys Calne

    2025 School of the Year

    This school have a thriving tennis programme, delivering 200+ individual lessons per week to over 180 pupils, over 50% of the school.
    Learning opportunities include individual lessons, group lessons, P.E lessons, Team Practices and Cardio Tennis.
    Beyond playing, they offer Tennis Leaders courses and have previously run a LTA Level 1 at the school.. Pupils also have the opportunity to volunteer, as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
    There are many opportunities to compete including summer fixtures against other schools, they play in the Independent School Girls’ Tennis League (ISGTL), Independent Schools Girls’ Tennis Association (ISGTL).
    Last year, they had a player partner up with another local school to create a mixed doubles pairing in the Bradfield Mixed Doubles tournament, going on to win their first trophy.
    They also hold a PGSM tennis tournament for the parents of our pupils to participate together, this year seeing over 100 players on court and have an Academy Championships held in the summer term to give pupils the opportunity to compete against their peers at school.

    Tennis Opened Up

    Chippenham Tennis Club Open Court Programme

    2025 Tennis Opened Up

    Under the enthusiastic leadership of their Head Coach, this Club has embarked on an ambitious programme of inclusive tennis.
    September marked the 3rd year anniversary of Deaf Tennis sessions at the Club in collaboration with the Deaf Unit at Sheldon Secondary School.
    12-16 students have attended weekly sessions specifically designed for deaf players who also have a range of additional educational needs.
    To quote the School website “Deaf Tennis has been one of the most popular enrichment opportunities for our deaf students and we are pleased to see their enthusiasm for the sport”.
    The club have also delivered another link with Silverwood SEN School offering tennis to a group of pupils with autism, complex learning needs and physical disabilities. One of their teachers said “the coaches made sure that everyone felt included and the variety of activities meant they all stayed engaged. It was an opportunity that created memories that will stay with them forever”.

    Young Person of the Year

    Jemma

    2025 Young Person of the Year

    This person, now aged 16, first started at Marlborough Tennis when she was just three years old.
    She has been playing all the way through the junior years and has progressed to be a coaching assistant.
    She is a very regular supporter and player at the club – at junior’s camps and coaching classes.
    Neil Watts, Head coach at Marlborough, values this persons on court support and help as a youth assistant. Neil said “She helps on pretty much every single camp throughout the year and also helps twice a week with other children’s classes – She is absolutely key to making sure that especially the young girls, have a good female role model – its key to making the younger girls enjoy themselves”.
    Marlborough said “she is a role model for young children, for girls in tennis and for the wider community”.

    Wiltshire Tennis Awards

    Team of the Year

    Salisbury Lawn Tennis Club Mens Team

    2025 Adult Team of the Year

    This Mens team finished top of the South West group in the 2025 National Club League, earning promotion to the top national tier for this summer’s competition.
    The squad featured several members of the Wiltshire men’s county team, with Ben Rogers, Cam Simpson and Mike Mitchell all going undefeated throughout the campaign.
    Captained by brothers Rory and Francis Smith, this team have enjoyed an excellent run of results over the past few years and they finished as runners-up in the National Premier League winter season. They are currently awaiting confirmation of their playoff opponents as they bid to qualify for the finals at the Roehampton Club.

    Outstanding Contribution

    Roger Wheeler

    2025 Outstanding Contribution to Tennis – Roger Wheeler

    This person joined Marlborough Tennis Club in 1992 and his roles include Acting Chair, Treasurer, & Website Admin.
    He has put the club in place better financial governance and he established a new constitution that complied with the new CASC regulations, securing a CASC for the club.
    With the support of other committee members, he established other fund-raising methods including a popular Wiltshire Council formal club lottery, EasyFundRaising, and donation sites such as Just Giving site.
    Throughout all these activities, he works as a team player – calm, determined, and generous.
    Somehow amongst all this dedication to the club, he has played and supported tennis players from all levels in the community – new members, rusty racketeers, social tennis session volunteering or supporting the Club Championships. On a Monday night social tennis slot sees him supporting the club’s happy Improvers/Beginners group rain or shine.
    Marlborough TC said “Roger has inspired his club and enabled tennis for generations in our community”.

    Outstanding Contribution

    Simon Gaylard

    2025 Outstanding Contribution to Tennis – Simon Gaylard

    This person is one of the founder members of Marshfield Tennis Club, helping to build the club from an idea between a few local residents to the thriving club it has been for the last 15 years.
    He was the first club chairman and has been on the committee ever since the club was formed, currently holding the treasurer position.
    He has been instrumental in developing the club facilities over the lifespan of the club
    He has always brought a professional and pragmatic attitude to getting things done and has been consistently committed to the success of the club.
    Marshfield TC said “The club remains in a strong financial position with excellent facilities meaning it has a very bright future thanks largely to Simon’s efforts”.

    Special Recognition Award

    Horningsham Primary School

    2025 Special Recognition Award

    This Primary School is a small, happy community school located in the Longleat estate with a strong family feel.
    Sport is an integral part of the schools learning philosophy and tennis is played regularly in the playground and hall.
    Two teachers have completed the LTA tennis CPD course and deliver tennis during PE lessons.
    This school has linked with their local tennis club – Corsley TC – and their head coach, Martin Ellacott, delivers an after school tennis club during the summer and autumn terms.
    The head teacher is extremely supportive of tennis in the school and is having a pickleball court created in the playground for next year.

    COUNTY JUNIOR SQUADS

    MIP – 8u Squad

    Alyayna and Sebastian

    2025 Junior MIP – (1) 8U

    MIP – 9u Squad

    Gabriella and George

    2025 Junior MIP – (2) 9U

    MIP – 10u Squad

    Samridhi and Harry

    2025 Junior MIP – (3) 10U

    MIP – 12u Squad

    Evie and Neil

    2025 Junior MIP – (4) 12U

    MIP – 14u Squad

    Daisy and Zachary

    2025 Junior MIP – (5) 14U

    Outstanding Commitment to Junior Tennis

    Anthony Longjohn

    2025 Outstanding Commitment – Anthony Longjohn

    Outstanding Commitment to Junior Tennis

    Georgia Ifil

    2025 Outstanding Commitment – Georgia Ifil

    Outstanding Commitment to Junior Tennis

    Jessica Longjohn

    Outstanding Commitment to Junior Tennis

    Michael Mitchell

    2025 Outstanding Commitment – Michael Mitchell

    Player of the Year

    Jasper

    2025 Player of the Year

    Player of the Year

    Mia

    2025 Player of the Year – Mia

    Team of the Year

    14U Girls Team

    2025 Team of the Year – 14U Girls

    Wiltshire Youth and National League

    8u – Pewsey TC/Chippenham/Downton
    9u – Chippenham/Chippenham
    10u – Wanborough/Riverside
    11u Boys – Pewsey
    12u Girls – Victoria Park
    12u Boys – Riverside/Marlborough
    14u Girls – Chippenham
    14u Boys – RWBTC
    16u Girls – Devizes TC
    16u Boys – Chippenham
    Ladies – Trowbridge Westbourne
    Mens – Trowbridge Westbourne

    Image Gallery

  • NEW WILTSHIRE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

    NEW WILTSHIRE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

    Rocket Padel has been appointed as the LTA Workforce Development Centre (WDC) for Wiltshire from 1 January 2026, formally known as LTA Coach Development Centres.

    The LTA WDC’s  sit at the heart of Tennis and Padel Coach and Officiating Education in Great Britain and each WDC has the responsibility of running courses in their assigned counties. This includes delivering qualifications (Levels 1-3), workshops, Coach Forums, first aid courses, and safeguarding courses.

    Rocket Padel offer coach courses and training across Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and this will grow to include referee and officials qualifications, training, the LTA Padel Coach (Level 3) qualification and the Introduction to Pickleball course.

    You are able to find information on all qualifications and courses on the Rocket Padel Workforce Development Centre website.

    Wiltshire Tennis look forward to working with Rocket Padel and supporting our coach, referee and officials workforce.

  • 2024 Award Winners

    2024 Award Winners

    Each year, the LTA Tennis Awards highlight the incredible achievements and contributions of people across Britain.
    Launched in 2015 with the help of former LTA president Cathie Sabin OBE, the awards recognise the many thousands of inspirational individuals involved in tennis, dedicating their precious time and energy; 25,000 volunteers, 4,672 coaches and 975 officials. They also highlight the incredible achievements of some 22,000 schools, 2,768 clubs and over 9,276 LTA approved tournaments. The contribution of these individuals and venues helps to bring fans and players closer to the game we all love.
    Winners are judged from over 2,000 public nominations and are first judged by 38 County Associations, resulting in 380 County award winners who are then put forward for Regional awards. Finally, the Regional winners are put forward for the National LTA Tennis Awards alongside winners from Tennis Wales and Tennis Scotland.
    In addition to the LTA Awards Wiltshire Tennis also awards for contributions and efforts in additional categories.

    Our sincere thanks to LTA President Sandi Procter, who joined us for the evening and presented the awards.

    This years awards was hosted by Bechtle in Chippenham our thanks to James Napp and his colleagues for putting on a fantastic evening.

    LTA Awards

    Club of the Year

    Marlborough Tennis

    2024 Club of the Year

    This club have six new courts and drive participation through a ‘tennis for all’ approach.
    Their daily social tennis programme covers daytime and evening sessions and adult coaching classes include skills, “hit-fit”, doubles, league training, rusty rackets and Walking Tennis.
    Competitive tennis flourishes with Box Ladders, Club Championships, 9 League Teams and monthly tournaments. They also hosted LTA approved tournaments.
    The Junior programme continues to thrive and has included 72 camps.
    Their new two-storey, £275,000 clubhouse, opened in June 2024. The clubhouse enables novel community engagement; with FOC access to underprivileged groups.
    Comments from a recent club Survey include: “friendliness, generosity of volunteers, leadership, great courts, great coaching team ”.

    Coach of the Year

    David Morris

    2024 Coach of the Year

    This coach’s relentless efforts at the grassroots level have had a profound impact on the development of young tennis talent.
    His dedication goes far beyond the technicalities of the game; he instils confidence, discipline, and a love for tennis that resonates with each child he mentors.
    This coach has been a tennis coach now for 6 years. He obtained his Level 3 in 2019 and is now working toward his Level 4 Senior Coach accreditation.
    He has a passion for performance coaching working with players of county and regional level and is a current County Captain for the County junior teams.
    He is coach at Delta Tennis Centre and one member said “We are incredibly fortunate to have him as part of our tennis family, and there is no one more deserving of this recognition”.

    Competition of the Year

    Wiltshire National Junior League

    2024 Competition of the Year

    Over the past couple of years this league has found it more and more difficult to attract venues, clubs and coaches to participate in the League over the Summer months.

    In 2024 the format was amended and it was decided to make every event a central venue competition.

    With this change the 2024 end of season statistics rose to 100% of matches played, 97 teams entered and 218 players participating in the events.

    Lifetime Achievement Award

    Hilda Moore

    2024 Lifetime Achievement Award

    This person has made a strong contribution to tennis in Scotland and Wiltshire. She played tennis from age 10, joining the Titwood Tennis Clubs committee in Glasgow at just 19.
    Joining her current club at 30, she ran junior tennis, qualifying as a coach in 2004. She’s coached a wide range of players ever since.
    She joined the committee in 2000 and was appointed as Chair in 2002. Her leadership and enthusiasm enabled the club to think big and move to a new site, obtaining loans and grants for the new six court site. She successfully helped steer the club to its new £820k venue in 2018. She then continued on the committee in a coaching lead role.
    She was a ‘She Rallies’ ambassador which was a scheme supporting women and girls in tennis and is supported by Judy Murray.
    She is an incredible role model and her achievements at Marlborough Tennis are remarkable.
    Her club said “Her enthusiasm and personality has been an inspiration – she is a star performer!”

    Presidents Award

    Kay Gilbert

    2024 Presidents Award

    This award is presented by the LTA President Nationally.
    Kay is an outstanding volunteer in tennis. Her standout work in 2024 has been in supporting tennis parents through her innovative and unique creation, the Tennis Parents Community, a hugely popular Facebook Group which connects parents and helps them to support their children.

    School of the Year

    Bishop Wordsworth’s Grammar School

    2024 School of the Year

    This school access Salisbury Lawn Tennis Club and the Director of sport, gives up a huge amount of time to ensure tennis plays a big part in school sport.
    Throughout the year they have before school training sessions and use the courts in their games lessons. Over 100 pupils take the opportunity to receive coaching.
    The school ran a 32 draw PYWTW 14U draw, as well as popular 18U doubles draw, sending 7 players to county finals, with one pair then playing in the National event at the All England Club.
    The school has sent teams from year 7-10 through to regional finals for consecutive years and the boys senior side made it to the last 16 teams in the country in the National Knockout, competing against independent schools and tennis academies.
    The school and club have an amazing relationship, and the strength, depth and variety of the programme increases each year.

    Volunteer of the Year

    Adrian Penn – Marshfield Tennis Club

    2024 Volunteer of the Year

    This volunteer is a real stalwart and has devoted a significant amount of time to support his club over the last 3 years.
    He has been the heartbeat of the club, leading the committee, keeping the clubhouse well maintained and the courts in great shape, as well as being involved on court at club nights, coaching sessions and team matches.
    He is the first point of contact for new members and his friendly and welcoming attitude has created a great first impression for the club.
    This person has been Chairman of Marshfield Tennis Club for 3 years and has gone above and beyond his role with the aim of making the club even better for now and the future

    Young Person of the Year

    Anneka – Marshfield Tennis Club

    2024 Young Person of the Year Award

    This person over the past two years has supported the tennis coaching programme at their club as a Tennis Leader, helping with group coaching sessions and tennis camps.
    Initially using the Tennis Leader volunteering for her Duke of Edinburgh Award and to support her Sports Ambassador role in her school, she has gone way beyond the requirements and is always happy to help out when the opportunities arise.
    She is fantastic with the children, particularly youngsters who are new to coaching and has the ability to help even the most nervous of player feel comfortable and safe on the courts.
    The Head coach at her club said “Her energy, enthusiasm and positivity rubs off on everyone around her and I am always confident that she has the ability to adapt activities and games to the players she is working with. She is a great role model to the younger girls and boys”. 

    Wiltshire Tennis Awards

    Player of the Year

    [Junior Player] Harry

    2024 Player of the Year

    This player won 5 grade 3 14U events.
    They moved up 75 ranking places to make top 100; winning 75% of all matches played.
    This junior player represented the County at 14U and 18U County Cup events winning 9 out of 12 matches.
    This junior had a great run at the Play you way to Wimbledon event. He won his club event and then the county finals which qualified him for the National Finals at Wimbledon.
    At the finals he reached the Final with 7 match wins knocking out 4 boys all ranked higher – 3 top 50 ranked – losing a close tense final against a boy ranked 10th in the UK.

    Team of the Year

    Wiltshire Ladies Team

    2024 Wiltshire Team of the Year

    This team narrowly missed out on promotion at the LTA Summer County Cup playing a total of 18 tiebreaks over the 5 days.
    At the LTA Winter County Cup, the team played against: Northamptonshire, South of Scotland, Channel Islands and were promoted with the promotion coming down to yet another tiebreaker in the doubles against Northamptonshire.
    This team are building an amazing cohort that get on well and have the potential to grow and improve as a team each year.

    COUNTY JUNIOR SQUADS

    MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS

    MIP – 8u Squad

    Alayna and Gus

    2024 u8 Squad

    MIP – 9u Squad

    Gabrielle, Samridhi and Euan

    2024 u9 Squad

    MIP – 10u Squad

    Aarabhi and Harry

    2024 u10 Squad

    MIP – 12u Squad

    Alice and Hector

    2024 u12 Squad

    MIP – 14u Squad

    Phoebe and Andrew

    2024 u14 Squad

    Wiltshire Youth and National League

    8u – Wanborough TC and Ramsbury TC
    9u – Trowbridge Westbourne and Wanborough
    10u – Riverside and Ramsbury
    12u – Girls RWBTC | Boys Salisbury TC and Beckington
    14u – Girls Salisbury | Boys Salisbury and RWBTC
    16u – Girls Downton | Boys RWBTC and Purton
    18u – Boys Pewsey

    Image Gallery

    HISTORY OF WINNERS

    A history of award winners in Wiltshire including Wiltshire winners of the prestigious LTA Meritorious Service Award can be found here.

  • LTA Youth Schools – Teachers sign up now!

    LTA Youth Schools – Teachers sign up now!

    FREE training and a £250 reward voucher

    Designed specially for primary and secondary school teachers to support the curriculum. The FREE LTA teacher training CPD comes with access to a range of resources including PE lesson plans, videos, cross curricular activities, and competition guides.

    Take part and complete online training to receive a £250 reward voucher for your school and a free activity pack. It’s all been designed by teachers, for teachers, and it’s all FREE.

    Register via the link here – Schools tennis | LTA Youth Schools | LTA

    LTA Schools Youth Flyer

  • Wiltshire Mini Tennis 8U Festival Report

    Wiltshire Mini Tennis 8U Festival Report

    Bright colours, children laughing, balls flying everywhere and captains cheering on their teams was the atmosphere at the Wiltshire Tennis 8u Festival held at Delta TC in November.

    It was an opportunity for new players to experience competition in a fun, safe environment with friends and fellow team mates and what an afternoon of tennis we had topped off with a ‘live’ game and the tennis quiz.  These festivals offer players the opportunity to step into the world of tournaments, to dip their toe into the water to see what it is all about and we hope as a team and player that they have been inspired to seek out mini red ball events across the county and maybe take a friend or two along.

    We had 13 teams competing with the eventual winners being Ramsbury Rockets.

    Thank you to all the clubs who entered a team and to the captains who patiently umpired the matches and kept the afternoon flowing – we all had a great time and your help makes it run just that little bit smoother.

    If you are interested in your club taking part next year or perhaps in the Summer LTA Youth League please drop our Tournament Co-ordinator for Wiltshire a line at [email protected] who will be happy to send more information as and when it is released.

  • Lewis Fletcher and Phoebe Suthers earn mixed doubles silver medal at 3rd World Deaf Tennis Championships

    Lewis Fletcher and Phoebe Suthers earn mixed doubles silver medal at 3rd World Deaf Tennis Championships

    Wiltshire’s Lewis Fletcher and Phoebe Suthers (Elland, Yorkshire) have won their second successive World Deaf Tennis Championships mixed doubles silver medal after a narrow 7-6, 7-5 defeat to Czech No.1 seeds Jaroslav Smedek and Katerina Blascikova on Friday in Crete.

    Lewis and Phoebe, the No.3 seeds, beat Chinese Taipei No.2 seeds Chun-Wei Wang & Chia-Wen Lin 6-2, 7-6(3) in Thursday’s semi-finals to secure their third mixed doubles victory of the week, but were unable to build on a 3-0 first set lead and a 3-1 second set advantage in Friday’s final.

    The mixed doubles silver medal on the last day of competition in Crete completes a week when all five members of the Great Britain team came up against top seeds or subsequent medal match contenders in their own quests to reach the podium.

    Esah Hayat, boys’ singles gold medallist in 2015 and men’s doubles silver medallist alongside Fletcher four years ago, bowed out to multiple Deaflympic champion Mikael Laurent of France in this year’s men’s singles draw, while Fletcher and Hayat and fellow Brits Ethan Carter and Charlie Denton saw their men’s doubles campaigns come to an end against the French and Japanese partnerships that contested the bronze medal match.

    Suthers saw her women’s singles campaign come to an end earlier in the week against Greek No.1 seed Vasiliki Kalogeropoulou, who narrowly missed out on the women’s singles bronze medal.       

    With Great Britian one of more than 20 countries contesting this year’s World Deaf Tennis Championships, the LTA’s Disability Competitions Manager Sophie Hall, Great Britain Team Manager for the 3rd World Deaf Tennis Championships, said:

    Phoebe and Lewis have done incredibly well to repeat their performance of four years ago and but for a few points here and there the outcome could have been very different. We are proud of all five members of the team after a challenging week. The standard of international deaf tennis improves year-on-year and we have a talented and enthusiastic young team of British players, with Phoebe returning from the World Championships as a medallist for the third time after making her debut as a 12-year-old when Britain hosted the first World Deaf Tennis Championships in 2015. We hope that this latest international medal will inspire lots of other young deaf people to pick up a racket and explore their potential through the LTA’s deaf tennis programme.

  • Amazon Prime Video LTA Youth Girls

    Amazon Prime Video LTA Youth Girls

    Prime Video LTA Youth Girls is designed to inspire thousands of girls to pick up a racket and try tennis for the first time. The focus is on creating an environment that motivates girls to play and stay in tennis.

    The LTA are looking for passionate and motivated accredited coaches who are L2 or higher to join the programme for 2024.

    Detailed information on coach criteria, requirements, and rewards together with the simplified application form can be found here: Prime Video LTA Youth Girls Coaching | LTA

  • Game On! Disability Tennis Performance Pathway Resource Guide

    Game On! Disability Tennis Performance Pathway Resource Guide

    The LTA have recently launched a Disability Performance Pathway Resource Guide.

    This booklet is a resource for disabled players and the tennis workforce, which aims to describe the different impairment specific tennis pathways in tennis.

    For coaches, it will support them to identify disabled players who show talent and guide them towards the next steps to ensure their players maximise their full potential.

    The LTA would like to raise awareness of the opportunities to play, compete and develop within the formats of Wheelchair Tennis, Learning
    Disability Tennis, Deaf Tennis and Visually Impaired (VI) Tennis.

    Download the guide below:

  • LTA Padel Newsletter – July

    LTA Padel Newsletter – July

    The July edition of the LTA Padel newsletter can be found below:

  • Wiltshire Disability Tennis Festival – 23rd August – Riverside TC

    Wiltshire Disability Tennis Festival – 23rd August – Riverside TC

    We are also hosting a Wiltshire Disability Tennis Festival which is open to players of all ages and abilities at Riverside Tennis Club on Wednesday 23rd August 2023. 

    This will be an afternoon of fun and games and all participants will receive certificates and prizes.  The entry fee is £2.50 per person.

    Sam Kingdon, Wiltshire Competition Co-ordinator is the organiser for this Festival and please contact Sam if you have any queries or wish to make a entry.  Sam can be contacted at [email protected] or call 07759 811194.

    A poster can be downloaded below:

  • 11U County Cup Reports

    11U County Cup Reports

    The Wiltshire 11U County teams competed at the LTA 11U County cup event over the weekend of 17th and 18th June

    The 11U County Cup was held over the weekend of 17th and 18th June. The girls competed in Taunton and the Boys in Woodford Green. Reports below:

    11U Girls County Cup – Division 2
    Venue – Taunton
    Date 17th & 18th June 2023
    Captain – Catherine Fletcher
    Team – Alice, Una, Daisy, Cora and Amelie

    We played Devon first and after the singles it was 2-2 in rubbers so all to play for in the doubles. We then played the singles matches against Somerset and after the singles had an advantage of being 3-1 up. Then the doubles rubbers to go for – the pairings of Alice / Una and Daisy/ Cora worked well. This paid off and we won all the doubles so we beat Devon 4-2 and Somerset 5-1 so a great start to the event. All to play for on Sunday and a really impressive effort from all girls .

    We had Cornwall to play in the first match on Sunday. Amelie played at 4th and got us off to a good start , Daisy and Alice following suit . The latter was amazing to turn around a 4-0 first set loss to win! Nice to be 3-1 up before the doubles rubbers.

    We then had to play Dorset and the girls put up a good fight but sadly they were too strong for us and we were 4-0 down after the singles .

    We then played Cornwall doubles matches and managed to wrap that up winning both doubles thus 4-2 .

    Dorset won both doubles thus overall winners and our girls should be very proud with a 2nd place . Well done to all the girls.
    Catherine Fletcher

    11U Boys County Cup – Division 1 Play Offs
    Venue – Woodford Green, Essex
    Date 17th & 18th June 2023
    Captain – Lewis Fletcher and Neil Little
    Team – Adhrit, Alexandra, Reuben and Jasper

    It was great the U11 boys qualified for the Division 1 play off group based on their individuals rankings – this comes from hard work and lots of competing.  However being place in the qualifying group means the other counties in our group would be strong – most of the players are in the top 100.  In our group we had South Wales, Essex and Cambridgeshire

    The boys did very well, maybe a little nervous and slow on the first morning. The warm weather certainly played a part as the day went on.  Wiltshire came up against South Wales in the first fixture – there were many opportunities to take the first two matches – but it wasn’t to go our way. I think if we had the first two matches then things might have looked a little different.  In the afternoon we took on Cambridgeshire and there were some great individuals’ performances but Cambridgeshire proved too strong.

    On the final day we came up against Essex – they had already beaten South Wales, so winning against Essex would make the table more interesting. The boys were a lot more settled and used to the situation. After many individual battles, we ended up 3-3 and headed into a shoot out in which the boys performed brilliantly to come through and win. So it ended with 3 counties winning one fixture and losing 2 apart from Cambridgeshire. 

    Well Done to the boys for their efforts and a big thank you to the parents for their support.
    Lewis Fletcher

  • LTA Youth Tennis Leader Course – delivery grants available to Wiltshire venues

    LTA Youth Tennis Leader Course – delivery grants available to Wiltshire venues

    Wiltshire Tennis are keen to support venues to develop their coaching workforce and bring more young people into the game to inspire others to play. Tennis Leaders provide coaches with:

    • An extra pairs of hands in delivering their tennis programme
    • Fantastic role models for younger members or pupils to look up to
    • Help to attract more young people to participate in tennis
    • A fun and rewarding personal development opportunity.

    All course materials and resources are provided free of charge, and the content can be delivered by any LTA Accredited+ Coach.  On completion of the course all Leaders will receive:

    • A branded LTA Youth Tennis Leaders t-shirt
    • A certificate for each module you complete
    • A workbook to refer back to

    For further information on the course please visit  https://www.lta.org.uk/roles-and-venues/coaches/products-and-programmes/lta-youth-tennis-leaders/

    We would like to invite venues to host an LTA Youth Tennis Leader Course which is aimed at children 11-16 years at your venue which we will support through a £75 grant to help towards the delivery of the course.    This course is great for succession planning or you may want to develop links with your secondary school and deliver a course on site

    NEXT STEPS TO REGISTER YOUR COURSE

    ON COMPLETION OF YOUR COURSE

  • LTA President’s Visit to Wiltshire

    LTA President’s Visit to Wiltshire

    On 15th October, Wiltshire Tennis were delighted to welcome the LTA President, David Rawlinson, to the County.

    The day started at Royal Wootton Bassett Tennis Club, a thriving tennis club on the edge of Swindon which has 8 flood-lit all-weather tennis courts.  The Wiltshire Tennis Executive committee and RWBTC committee welcomed David to the club as juniors were being coached and members were enjoying a Cardio tennis lesson.  Coffee and pastries were kindly provided by the club and enjoyed by all!

    The Wiltshire Tennis Committee then took David to our Club of the Year – Trowbridge Westbourne Tennis Club. The club provided a lovely lunch and had many members on their 4 courts playing recreational tennis and enjoying the lovely October sunshine. The club has a thriving membership after going through a restructuring and a new coaching team and the club made David feel very welcome. 

    Wiltshire Tennis enjoyed showing David two of our very vibrant tennis clubs in our beautiful County and showcasing what Wiltshire has to offer.

    David Rawlinson with the RWBTC volunteers
    David Rawlinson with RWBTC Coaching team
    David Rawlinson and WT Committee
  • Over 35’s Mens County Cup Report

    Over 35’s Mens County Cup Report

    A newly formed Wiltshire Men’s team met up in Eastbourne for the 2022 LTA Over 35’s County Cup in mid-August.  The weather conditions were clear skies and challenging heat and the team were all excited for the battles ahead with Staffordshire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man.  First up on the hottest day was Staffordshire who proved to be the strongest team in the division going through without losing a match.  Adam Gentry and Martyn Ledbury played well in the singles matches, losing to very strong and highly ranked opponents.  Jason Stevens and Sam Hull put up a good fight in their two consecutive doubles matches, the highlight being a 6-7, 5-7 loss to the opposing number 1 pair. 

    Day 2 saw the team come up against Cumbria who had a mix of relative youth and vast experience.  A very close 3 set singles loss for Martyn inspired some great doubles which got the team back into the tie but at 2 match wins each unfortunately the final doubles was lost for a very close 3-2 defeat overall. 

    The final day saw Kent and Surrey battling it out for the overall title whilst Wiltshire faced the Isle of Mann.  In a similar story to the previous day the singles were close but both matches ended in defeat.  Once again, the team rallied to win two doubles matches but the final match ended in defeat and another very close 3-2 loss.  Despite finishing 4th in the group, a few points going the other way could have landed a 2nd place finish – but that is tennis! 

    All the team reflected positively on their experience and are very keen to push the team forward.  Any new players would be welcomed to the squad for training and preparations for 2023. For more details, please contact the Wiltshire Mens Over 35’s Captain, Sam Hull. on email: [email protected] or Tel: 07879 447249.

  • Tennis League Serves Up Lifelong Sport

    Tennis League Serves Up Lifelong Sport

    When Tillie (Trowbridge Westbourne, aged 13), played doubles against Tessa McWhirter (Chippenham Park, aged 73) this week, the 60 year age gap proved that tennis really is a sport for life.

    Trowbridge Westbourne Tennis Club, at Westbourne Gardens, hosted the match in the first division of the Chippenham & District Women’s Doubles League.

    “There aren’t many sports where a 60 year age gap is not a barrier to competing against each other,” said Kay Gilbert, League Rep for Trowbridge Westbourne.  “Whilst Tillie can run to hit aggressive topspin winners, Tessa plays with slice and can outfox her opponents with clever placement of the ball.  Both learn from each other and have fun doing so.”

    “Tillie has been a very valuable addition to our Women’s A team; it’s been lovely to see her enjoying her tennis and learning to play against different styles of players.  She can use the experience she gets at local league level to help her play more strategically on the LTA regional singles circuit.”

    Rob Tedder, Chair of Trowbridge Westbourne Tennis Club, winners of ‘Wiltshire Tennis Club of the Year’ added, “In addition to our robust Safeguarding policy, our club has recently published a new junior/youth pathway into the adult game, to make sure younger players can have a good experience when transitioning to play in the open club sessions or represent the club in league matches.”


    “Keeping juniors in sport is key to promoting healthy active lifestyles, and as a volunteer run community club, we offer something for everyone.  We have members returning to the sport years after they last played as well as people picking up a racket for the first time at all ages.  They can access coaching with Blue Sky Tennis at our club, join in club sessions, play competitive matches, or book courts for free play.  We welcome all new members”


    The Chippenham & District Tennis League is in its 62nd year, with over 20 local tennis clubs entering a total of 100 teams into 15 divisions across the Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Summer Championships.  The League is run by a small group of dedicated volunteers, and offers a Winter League too.
    Kay Gilbert

  • LTA Open Court Programme in Wiltshire

    LTA Open Court Programme in Wiltshire

    The LTA Open Court Programme is a national programme funded by Sport England and the LTA, which is delivered at a local level made up of a collaboration of key partners actively promoting and delivering opportunities for disabled people to get involved in tennis. The programme provides disability specific sessions such as; learning disability tennis, wheelchair tennis, visually impaired tennis and deaf tennis. However, the LTA are also expanding the offer into other long term health conditions such as Mental Health and Dementia. More details of the LTA Open Court programme can be found on the LTA Open Court Webpage

    Various venues around Wiltshire host inclusive tennis sessions and we are keen for more venues to engage with their local groups. This could be via sessions at your club or at the groups own premises or with a local SEN School or Daycare centre.

    Kath Brooks (Wiltshire County Administrator) is the Open Court lead  in Wiltshire and if you are interested in developing your inclusive offer and/or want to start up a disability specific session please [email protected]

    Below is a fantastic example of a great partnership we have in Wiltshire between Marshfield Tennis Club and Calder House School:

    Marshfield Tennis Club and Calder House School

    Marshfield Tennis Club has been working with Calder House School for over 5 years, supporting their PE provision by delivering weekly tennis sessions.  

    Calder House is a small school of just under 50 children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia and language difficulties set in a rural area of North Wiltshire.  Coach Dan Tonkin delivers tennis lessons to all the students throughout the year in small groups, enabling them to learn new physical skills, gain confidence in using their bodies and have fun playing tennis.  There is a wide range of sporting abilities throughout the school but by using modified equipment suitable for each child’s stage of development great results can be seen in improved confidence and competence. 

    After receiving a funding grant from Wiltshire Tennis, Head Coach Sam Hull and Dan were able to invite the whole school to Marshfield Tennis Club for a tennis festival.  This gave every child the opportunity to play on the courts, participating in some fun activities and games as well as the chance to play some friendly matches.  

    Bursar, Registrar and Managing Director Jason Page commented after the festival “Our kids had a fantastic time last week at Marshfield. Thank you for inviting us to this. Everyone got a great deal out of it. And thank you for your longstanding commitment and support for the children at Calder House. Dan makes a significant contribution to our delivery of P.E., V.M.I. and motor skills and has become an important part of our Tuesday team.” 

    Mrs Delahay, Head of School, also added “I would like to say an ENORMOUS thank you! For all you do to ensure that our children continue to benefit from external tennis coaching.  I am grateful for the endeavours made to actively seek out funding”.

    Sam Hull (Head Coach at Marshfield TC)

  • Play Your Way to Wimbledon – County Finals

    Play Your Way to Wimbledon – County Finals

    It was a beautiful morning at Swindon Tennis Centre which was the setting for the 2022 Play Your Way to Wimbledon County Finals.

    As the players arrived the sense of anticipation grew and after a tournament briefing the players and parents were set to go.  The boys entered the arena first in the first rounds with long rallies and tense points.  All battled hard as the temperatures started to rise and over the course of the morning the draw had worked its way down to two players in the final – Samuel and Andrew.

    Whilst the boys were duelling we had three amazing young ladies playing a round robin event to decide the girls final with the winner takes all match played between Jiselle and Annie.

    As the players took to the courts, a sense of calm surrounded the courts.   The matches ebbed and flowed with the girls going to two tie breaks but in the end there can be only one winner.

    Congratulations to Samuel and Annie who have qualified for the finals at Wimbledon and I hope Jiselle and Andrew will return next year to compete another day.

    Thank you to all the players and parents, the team from Wiltshire Tennis and Swindon Tennis Centre for making the event such a great day.

    Sam Kingdon (Wiltshire Tennis Competition Co-ordinator and Play Your Way to Wimbledon Organiser)

  • 11U County Cup Qualifying

    11U County Cup Qualifying

    11U Girls – Bristol

    Team: Mia, Pheobe, Nicole and Olivia
    Captain – Lewis Fletcher

    On the weekend of 18th June – the girls U11 County Cup event took place in Bristol.

    We had Devon, Somerset, Avon and Cornwall in our groups and the matches were played in a round robin. 

    Over the course of the weekend the players put in a great performance throughout and won against Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. As we all guessed it would be between Avon and Wiltshire to take 1st or 2nd place. 

    Avon proved to have too much depth in their squad this year with Wiltshire having players out injured. 

    I was very proud of the girls with their own individual performances with some players achieving personal wins against players they hadn’t beaten before!!  I would love for girls to make national finals at some stage in their county’s careers. Hopefully next year! Once again – Well done girls!!
    Captain Lewis Fletcher 

    11U Boys – Ivybridge

    Team: Adhrit, Pierre, Alex and George
    Captain: Neil Little

    Saturday 
    The 11U boys started the weekend against a very strong Devon side and despite some of the matches going to tie breaks and the boys showing some great fight we lost the rubber 6-0. Next up for Wiltshire was a match against Somerset and we got off to a great start with singles wins for George and Pierre to give us a 2-0 lead, however their 1&2 were particularly strong and a year older than both Alex and Adhrit and despite Adhrit getting his match to a match tie break we ended up 2-2 after the singles had been played. So we headed to the doubles, where the boys showed some great teamwork and use of the things we’d worked on in county training previously, however we narrowly lost both doubles in 3rd set match tie breaks which was tough to take for the boys but they’d showed great fight. 

    Sunday
    After a nice team meal the night before, the boys were in good spirits and got off to a fantastic start with a 6-0 win over Cornwall, with all the boys playing really well. Next up for Wiltshire was a match against Avon, it was always going to be a tough one but the boys got off to a good start with George battling hard and losing a close one but Pierre coming through with a win leaving us 1-1 with Alex and Adhrit about to take to the court against tough opponents. Unfortunately both lost but Adhrit was unlucky to lose a match tie break and meant we were 3-1 down heading into doubles. George and Pierre showed great fight to win their match in a 3rd set tie break but Adhrit and Alex just came up short losing 4-2 4-2 meaning that we went down 4-2. 

    Overall I was really pleased with the boys effort and commitment throughout the weekend and they were a pleasure to have there representing Wiltshire!
    Captain Neil Little

  • Wiltshire 10U boys team finish 5th at National Finals!

    Wiltshire 10U boys team finish 5th at National Finals!

    U10 National Finals were held at Bath Uni on 10 – 12th of June.

    Captain – Lewis Fletcher

    Team – Adhrit, Jacob, Reuben and Alexander

    It was a really proud moment and achievement for the boy to be in the National Finals.

    There were 8 counties in the Finals spilt into two groups of 4.  We, Wiltshire, had Middlesex, Warwickshire and Yorkshire in our group.

    On the 1st day we took on Middlesex and after nearly 7 hrs of play the boys won in the shoot out, Great start for the group and the boys!

    However, on Saturday the boy endured a tough match against Yorkshire who were strong throughout and made the final. We lost 4-2,  hoping that the 2 rubbers would help us at the end of the group. Later that afternoon we started the singles against Warwickshire.  

    This was a fixture we needed to win to take us to second in the group. After close singles matches the boys were tied at 2-2. The doubles was to be decided the next morning.  After 8.30am match start time they were tied again at 3-3. Another shoot to be decided but unfortunately it wasn’t to be this time.  Lost 4-3.

    This put us against East Scotland fighting for 5th place. Somehow after a long 2 and half days the boys found the energy and strength to beat East Scotland 4-2 to gain 5th place.

    They did amazing to put themselves and Wiltshire on the map at the National Finals. It will be an experience they will look back on and say they competed for Wiltshire at U10 County Cup!!!  We are all very proud of them!

    I hope these boys will be able to continue to develop and enjoy their tennis journey into the U11 and U12 county cup.  Congratulations,

    Lewis Fletcher (Capatin & Wilts Performance Co-0rdinator)

  • 10U County Cup Qualifying –  Boys qualify for Finals and Girls 2nd!

    10U County Cup Qualifying – Boys qualify for Finals and Girls 2nd!

    10U Boys County Cup Burnham-On-Sea Group E 

    A wonderful weekend for the boys with glorious weather.

    There were 6 counties in our group with Devon and Somerset in our half of the table. Our 1st match against Devon was close as ever! After tying 3-3, had to go into a shoot out which the boys won 11-9 in the tie break.

    We then played Somerset the next day and won 6-0 which took us to the final against Avon. 

    The boys started very well and got the job in hand done and took the win by 5-1. A fantastic weekend and we are all looking forward to completing in the national finals in 3 weeks time at Bath. Well done to all the boys!

    Team Captain – Lewis Fletcher

    Team – Reuben , Jacob, Alexander and Adhrit

    10U Girls County Cup Taunton Group E 

    The girls showed fantastic spirit all weekend to finish second in a group consisting of Avon, Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset. 

    Wiltshire started the Saturday with a flying 4-2-win vs Cornwall, winning three of our singles and 1 of our doubles rubbers. Wiltshire followed this up with a great team effort resulting in a 5-1-win vs Somerset.

    With it all still to play for on the second Day Wiltshire battled hard against Devon taking all 4 singles rubbers to second set tiebreaks. We managed to win all four tiebreaks to take and early 4-0 lead into the doubles rubbers in the afternoon, which after long hard-fought matches Devon came out on top. 

    Wiltshire finished the Sunday against a strong Avon side. Avon proved too strong and quick both mentally and physically and won faultlessly 6-0 vs Wiltshire. Our girls showed fantastic courage and spirit throughout the weekend and were deserving runners up in the group. With a fantastic group of girls within the age group we look forward to many more county cups in years to come. Well done to all the girls #WiltshireWarriors   

    Captain: Matt Rutland  

    Team: Una, Cora, Alice, and Amelie 

  • LTA 14U County Cup – 30th April & 1st May

    LTA 14U County Cup – 30th April & 1st May

    GIRLS – TORQUAY – GROUP A

    Team: Olivia, Ella, Emily, Matilda, Sophie and Anya

    It was a great weekend all round with the girls finishing second overall. There were six counties in the group with the group spilt into two group of three counties.

    We were drawn with the Channel Islands and Cornwall.

    The girls pulled out a faultless 6-0 win against both counties to top our group. So taking top spot we were there for playing Avon in the final. The Avon girls were just too strong, playability and physically and most of their players are in their last years in 14s, whereas most of the Wiltshire girls have a few more years left in U14s which makes for a very promising future. Well done to all the girls.

    Captains Lewis and Catherine Fletcher

    BOYS – ROYAL WOOTTON TC – GROUP A

    Day 1 – Our first match was against Cornwall and the boys got off to a great start winning all our singles rubbers to lead 4-0 heading into the doubles, with comfortable 2 set wins for Jaydan, Harry, Alex and Andrew. However the doubles proved a bit more difficult and Harry and Alex lost a tight doubles match before Jaydan and Carlos won another tight doubles match in the 3rd set tie break meaning a 5-1 win for Wiltshire. 

    Due to heavy rain being forecast the next day we then played Avon straight after. We knew this was going to be a tough one against a very strong and experienced Avon team and despite the boys best efforts we lost 6-0. 

    Day 2 – That meant after day 1 we were playing for 3rd place out of 6 and drew us against Somerset. The boys started well with Andrew showing great fight and determination to win his singles match and put us 1-0 ahead. However we then went 2-1 down with Harry and Alex losing close matches that on another day might have gone our way, before Jaydan went on court against the number 5 in the country at 14&U. Jaydan put up a great fight but went down in 2 sets leaving us 3-1 down heading into the doubles. Despite the boys best efforts we then went onto lose both doubles rubbers, even though the boys played some great points and showed great team spirit throughout. 

    Big well done to all the boys who showed great fight throughout the weekend and hopefully will have gained some invaluable learning experiences for the future. Also big thanks to the parents for their support and in particular Deane Greenouff for his help organising the Saturday night entertainment at Pizza Hut and Tenpin bowling. 

    Captain: Neil Little

  • Play Your Way to Wimbledon 2022

    Play Your Way to Wimbledon 2022

    The Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, junior tournament (previously called Road to Wimbledon) gives most players under the age of 18, an opportunity to follow in their heroes footsteps and compete for the title at Wimbledon and as a county we are seeking to get as many clubs and venues across Wiltshire involved.

    There have been a few changes this year with the Entry FREE for all venues to host an event and also the organiser packs are FREE.  Plus venues can now, if they so wish, create an ‘Open Event’ perhaps grouping local clubs together to run a joint event for their players or run a closed event just for members.

    Also new for 2022, there are two Play Your Way To Wimbledon junior pathways:

    • Play you way to Wimbledon Single (ages 11-14)
    • Play you way to Wimbledon Doubles (ages 11-14)

    All venues hosting a Play Your Way To Wimbledon competition must be LTA registered venues (clubs, parks & schools).

    For further details please see Play your Way to Wimbledon 2022 – Wiltshire Tennis

    To register your event please visit www.LTA.org.uk/play-your-way-to-wimbledon

    Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Sam Kingdon (Wiltshire County Competition Co-ordinator) on email [email protected]

  • Wiltshire represented in the LTA Tennis 2022 National Awards Finals!

    Wiltshire represented in the LTA Tennis 2022 National Awards Finals!

    Wiltshire are delighted to report that Neil Allen from Swindon Tennis Centre has been selected as the Regional Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for the South West region in the 2022 LTA Tennis Awards.

    Over 2,500 entries were received for this year’s awards and were first judged at county level which resulted in 350 winners. The county winners were then put forward for regional awards. As a regional winner, Neil will now be put forward to the LTA Tennis Awards 2022 National Ceremony on 19 May, which will be broadcast across LTA social channels.

    The awards, which are now in their seventh year, acknowledge the impressive achievements and contributions of schools, clubs and LTA-approved tournaments, volunteers and venues that are so integral to the delivery of tennis in Britain.

    To mark their success at a regional level, alongside advancing to the national finals, all of the regional winners will be presented with a trophy to mark their achievements.

    Wiltshire Tennis Secretary and LTA Councillor, Liz Bissett, said: “Neil is a fantastic volunteer, competition organiser and referee and richly deserves this Regional Award. “He is a fantastic ambassador for tennis in the County for well over 30 years and has been a huge inspiration to so many people, “We wish Neil the very best in the National Finals”,

    LTA Volunteer Manager, Alex Beaumont, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are our way of highlighting the incredible achievements and contributions of people across Britain that give so much to our sport – from grassroots to the elite level. “This year’s entries were of an extremely high calibre and our judging panels for all categories had incredibly difficult decisions to make. “We would like to congratulate all of the regional winners and we are really looking forward to announcing the 2022 winners and celebrating their outstanding achievements at the national ceremony on 19 May.”

    Wiltshire will also be represented in the National Finals by the Royal Wootton Bassett TC Coaching Team who have been nominated for a LTA Presidents Award for demonstrating exceptional resilience and fortitude through recent challenging experiences. 

    Good luck to both Neil and the RWBTC Coaching Team in the National Finals.  Wiltshire Tennis are very proud of you all.

  • 8U County Cup

    8U County Cup

    The Wiltshire 8U team played in the 8U LTA County Cup event on Sunday 27th March at Southampton in Group G .

    This year is the first time that the LTA have held a county cup at the 8U age group and the team played matches against Hampshire, Dorset and South Wales.

    It was a great experience for all the boys and girls with some tough matches but lots to take away from it and use as a benchmark.

    Well done to all the boys and girls for their efforts and for doing their very best.

    CAPTAINS: Catherine Fletcher and Lewis Fletcher

  • 2022 Babolat Ball offer

    2022 Babolat Ball offer

    We are pleased to confirm that Babolat are again offering all Registered tennis venues within the county of Wiltshire the opportunity to access a Club ball offer:

    For every 12 dozen Babolat tennis balls purchased by a club within the county, the club will receive 1 dozen of the same tennis ball free of charge.  Qualifying tennis balls are: Babolat Team Clay, Team, Team All-Court and Gold All-Court.

    Babolat Ball Offer 2022 – Wiltshire Tennis

  • 9U County Cup

    The Wiltshire 9U team played in the 9U LTA County Cup event on Sunday 20th March at Southampton in Group J .

    The teams played matches against Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and Dorset and showed fantastic effort throughout the very long day against some very strong counties.

    Well done to all 9U boys and girls for their efforts

    CAPTAINS: Catherine Fletcher and Neil Little

  • Swindon & District Tennis League off-set emissions

    Swindon & District Tennis League off-set emissions

    The Swindon & District Tennis League are going someway to off-set the emissions generated by participating in the league by planting trees with Tree Nation. Each team entering the league contributes a small amount to buy trees in projects in the UK and across the world. This will operate for both the summer and winter leagues.

    Full details of the tree planted so far can be found here.

    The emissions from their web site are also being off-set with trees planted based on the number of hits the site receives.

    Thanks go to all clubs for agreeing to the scheme.

  • 18U County Cup Reports

    18U Girls – Edgbaston

    The 18U girls were at Edgbaston for the County Cup event.  After a shaky start and finding ourselves 2-0 down against Bedfordshire after the first 2 matches, the girls did brilliantly to convert and storm to a 7-2 win.  A great start on day 1.

    On our second day we played West of Scotland – after the singles our number 1 and 2 seeds kept us in the match after winning their singles meaning it was all down to the doubles.  Unfortunately, this time we were unable to convert losing all the doubles rubbers thus a 7-2 loss.

    All down to the final day and our aim was to stay in the same division at a minimum.  After the singles matches, Wiltshire girls found themselves in the same situation as day 2 after the singles rubbers – 4-2 down.  Our 3rd pair put on a fine doubles performance and were very unlucky not to be able to clinch the match, losing 7-10 in the match tie break.  If they had, we would have still been in the match.  Great effort from the girls and we did enough to stay in the group, finishing 3rd overall – we will be back next year ready to go again!!!

    Thank you to all for supporting the team and the county for their commitment.  Well done to all the players.

    Catherine Fletcher (18U Girls Captain)

    18U BOYS – SHREWSBURY

    Wiltshire Under 18 County Team were competing in Ellesmere near Shrewsbury this week and managed to gain promotion for the loss of just 2 matches.

    It was an excellent weekend where the team clicked so well on and off court and the performances were a sign of how comfortable they all were. The support throughout was as it always is for the Wiltshire Warriors.

    On day one the team beat North Wales 8-1. Anthony and Elliott set the weekend up nicely with 2 commanding performances and the success rolled on from there.

    On day 2 we beat a very young side from the Channel Islands 9-0.

    This left the two unbeaten side to face off on the final day.

    We thought it would be a tight contest but we weren’t even required to play doubles as we’d already secured a 5-1 victory with our number 1 William finishing things off in style.

    A great team effort from a side who would have done very well had they had the opportunity to compete last year.

    A big thank you to William, Seb, Rex and Elliott who are in their last year at the 18U age group.

    With some younger players coming in to the side we look forward to an exciting future ahead.

    Neil Watts (18U Boys Captain & Co-ordinator)

  • 2021 Award Winners

    2021 Award Winners

    Each year, the LTA Tennis Awards highlight the incredible achievements and contributions of people across the County and Wiltshire Tennis are delighted to announce this year’s winners.

    The awards were presented by Wiltshire Tennis President, Sir Geoffrey Owen, at the Wiltshire Tennis AGM.

    Winners of the club award were Trowbridge Westbourne Tennis Club who have had a fantastic year resulting in an increase of 38% in their full membership.

    Sam Hull from Marshfield and Biddestone TC won the Coach of the Year award. Sam’s tremendous coaching skills and knowledge has made him one of the most committed and respected coaches in the County.

    The Volunteer of the year award was awarded to Sal Etherington from Riverside TC. Sal is a committted and hardworking volunteer and has made a tremendous contribution to the development of her club over the past year.  

    The competition of the year award was presented to The Minety Mixed Open Tournament who raised over £2,000 for the Nelson Trust charity.

    Neil Allen from Swindon Tennis Centre picked up 2 awards. Neil was presented with the Official of the Year Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Neil has been an active and fantastic ambassador for tennis in the County for well over 30 years and has been a huge inspiration to so many people. He has dedicated many hours to tennis at both junior, senior, club. regional and national levels encouraging players of all ages and abilities to get involved thanks to his deep-rooted passion for the sport.

    An additional award for the Player of the Year was presented to Giles Hussey who upon leaving College in America, has embarked on a professional tennis career and has already won his first professional title in Mexico and currently has a career high world ranking of 875.

    Liz Bissett, Wiltshire Tennis Secretary and LTA Councillor commented: “The standard of the entries gets higher and higher each year and the judging panel had a very tough job in selecting the winners. I would like to congratulate all of the winners on their fantastic achievements this year”.

    Congratulations to all our Award Winners!

    LTA Awards

    Club of the Year

    Trowbridge Westbourne Tennis Club

    2021 Club of the Year

    This club is based in West Wiltshire
    They achieved a 37.5% growth in their full membership during 2021.
    They set up new communication channels to re-engage their existing membership and bond them as a community. They have also increased their online presence by updating their website, re-energised their Facebook Page, Instagram and Google Business Profile.
    This club had 11 teams compete in the summer league and 4 teams in the winter league, making them the joint largest provider of teams to the Chippenham & District League. They won 6 Divisional trophies including the Mixed Division 1 Cup – not won by the cub in 40 years!
    The club also ran a Singles box league where results can be used for ITF WTN, had 6 themed “fun” team-based tournaments such as “Across the Pond” and “Schools Out” and also 2 memorial tournaments for past members.. They also ran a Club Closed Tournament with consolation draws and a range of events for veterans. There were 103 entries from 66 players, playing in 118 matches over almost 3 months. Over 100 people attended the day.
    This club instigated social activities such as a lock down “pass the ball” video, and a club quiz night on Zoom.
    The club also installed new LED floodlights on two of our courts improving member’s playing experience – vital to increasing participation all year round.

    Coach of the Year

    Sam Hull – Marshfield Tennis Club

    2021 Coach of the Year

    This coach has tremendous coaching skills and is one of the most committed and respected coaches in the County.
    The Coach, under difficult circumstances, has still managed to run a successful and varied coaching programme for all ages and abilities and the standard of delivery is at a very high level. During lockdown this coach created online tennis coaching and fitness sessions which he posted on the Facebook page.
    This coach has developed great school links and has ran a successful Team Leaders course which has resulted in school children gaining Team Leader status. This has allowed them to assist at Junior team competitions, Junior coaching sessions and birthday party sessions.
    This coach has coordinated the Tennis for Kids – LTA Youth Start programme which was fully booked, ran fully booked Holiday camps for schools kids, organised Junior Team matches and reorganised the internal informal matches from Box Leagues to a Pyramid Ladder system for singles and doubles which has been well received.
    His club said “He is one of the most committed individuals I have ever met with a unyielding passion for tennis but also a passion for coaching and nurturing. This comes in the manner of both being competitive to drive good experienced players to improve as well as mentoring less able players to gain confidence and absolute beginners not to give up once they realise it is harder than they expected. This ability to mentor across all age ranges is very rare”.

    Competition of the Year

    Minety Open Mixed

    2021 Competition of the Year

    The club who run this competition are situated in a small village in North Wiltshire.
    The tournament made a successful return in 2021 ensuring they kept to all the covid19 guidelines to make the event as safe as possible
    This year the tournament raised over £2,000 for the Nelson Trust charity.
    The Tournament is a great example of local tennis at its best. Open to all, the handicap system allows mixed abilities to play together before streaming for more competitive groupings and then semis and finals in late afternoon in front of a decent crowd. Players are welcomed onto private courts often playing in stunning settings. People come back year after year to enjoy the friendly, convivial atmosphere whilst playing good tennis.

    Lifetime Achievement Award

    Neil Allen – Swindon Tennis Club

    2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

    This person has been an active and fantastic ambassador for tennis in the County for well over 30 years and has been a huge inspiration to so many people.
    He first came to be noticed by many when managing the new Delta Tennis Centre which he opened with Princess Diana in 1989.
    His involvement with the Cliff Richards Tennis trail brought tennis to hundreds of children in the Swindon area and provided the county with a new source of talent that he and his team of coaches could inspire.
    He was also a regular player in the local league. Initially playing for NALGO and then moving to Purton who soon recognised his talents off the court and it wasn’t long before he was their Chairman. He also played for British Rail and Swindon Tennis Club.
    He started refereeing at a local level but soon progressed to National events and is still refereeing at this level.
    His earlier refereeing included the Wiltshire County Junior Closed tournament and at about this time he was on the County Junior Committee. He then he moved up to Chair the Wiltshire Management Committee.
    He had a brief spell as a Director of Tennis in South Wales but then returned to Swindon and has been heavily involved with Swindon Tennis Club at St Marks to this day
    He has dedicated many hours to tennis at both junior, senior, club. regional and national levels.
    This exceptional volunteer has dedicated a huge amount of time volunteering in the county and at his local tennis venue, encouraging players of all ages and abilities to get involved thanks to his deep-rooted passion for the sport.
    His dedication to growing and inspiring players is incredible and their passion for tennis is evident, and this shines through in his officiating and volunteering.
    In 5 words his club describe him as “passionate, kind, caring, dedicated and inspirational”

    Meritorious Award

    John Heffer – Wiltshire Tennis Treasurer

    Official of the Year

    Neil Allen – Swindon Tennis Club

    2021 Official of the Year

    This person has run competitions in Wiltshire for many years and always goes above and beyond in their role.
    This official has dedicated a huge amount of time and energy into producing grassroots tennis competitions, not only at their club but also in the surrounding areas due to his passion for tennis and wanting more people competing in the sport they love.
    This person produces high quality competitions and continues to inspire and motivate players of all ages.
    His club said “He has a deep-rooted passion for competition and gives up most weekends, and lots of hours administering events, and volunteering to deliver well-managed LTA competitions. He remains the beating heart of the community at St Mark’s; his voluntary support with competition and his time dedicated to raising the awareness of the centre in invaluable. He is the perfect example of how impactful volunteers can contribute to the growth and development of British Tennis. He thoroughly deserves the recognition of his years of contribution to competition to Wiltshire Tennis”.

    Volunteer of the Year

    Sal Etherington – Riverside Tennis Club

    2021 Volunteer of the Year

    This person is a committed and hardworking volunteer and has made a tremendous contribution to the development of the club over the past year.
    She has played a key part in the completion of the recent facility development at the club; particularly in relation to the financial side of the project.
    She has also assisted in the restructuring of the main and sub-committees and assisted in the preparation of a comprehensive medium and long-term plan for the club
    Together with the membership secretary they reformed their membership system and implemented online membership. This has helped increase membership numbers by 50% mainly by introducing an online monthly membership option.
    Her club says “She deserves to win this award because she has been central to most of the club’s success this year and has been instrumental in ensuring that we build on these foundations by suggesting a new structure for club management and decision making as well as helping to devise an excellent business plan for the medium and long term strategy of the club. She also continues to do a fantastic job as the treasurer’s role which includes preparing the accounts, sorting out our very complicated insurance requirements and patiently explaining the club’s finances to the Committee and Members”

    Wiltshire Tennis Awards

    Player of the Year

    Giles Hussey

    2021 Player of the Year

    This player has had his most successful year to date
    Upon leaving College in America, he has embarked on a professional tennis career.
    In a short period of time he has achieved so much already and has gained his first ATP ranking in June at a tournament in Greece.
    He has since gone onto win his first professional title in Mexico and currently has a career high world ranking of 875.
    He also competed in the UK pro league and finished 4th in the grand final event which they qualified for due to his performances in the earlier events.
    Neil Watts, Wiltshire Tennis Adult Performance Co-Ordinator said “ He has had a fantastic year. This is the reward of almost 20 years hard work, commitment and sacrifices towards his tennis. We look forward with excitement for what the future year will bring”.

  • Dan is a National Champion!

    Dan is a National Champion!

    Wanborough’s Dan Hopkins is a National Champion!

    Dan competed at the LTA’s Visually Impaired National Finals last weekend and won the B2 Mens Singles Event.

    Dan is coached by Becky Watts at Wanborough and has had a great year. Huge congratulations to Dan!

    You can read more about Dan’s success and the finals on the link below:

    Visually Impaired National Finals 2021 Review | LTA

  • Lewis Fletcher wins National Deaf Tennis Championships Doubles Title

    Lewis Fletcher wins National Deaf Tennis Championships Doubles Title

    Lewis Fletcher, Ramsbury TC and County Coach, won a fourth successive National title with his partner, Esah Hayat over the weekend of 6th/7th November.

    Lewis and Esah have developed a highly successful doubles partnership and led Great Britain to the silver medal in the 2018 Dresse Cup, deaf tennis’s World Team Championship for male players and the deaf tennis equivalent of the Davis Cup, while a year later they were also silver medallists at the World Deaf Championships in Turkey.

    However, their latest success brought a fourth successive National title as the top seeds won all three of their men’s doubles round-robin matches in straight sets, beating runners-up Dan Tunstall, who coaches at Trowbridge Westbourne TC and Peter Willcox 6-2, 6-3 in the decisive match of the weekend.

    With the Covid-19 pandemic having brought the cancellation of the 2020 European Championships and the Deaflympics, deaf sport’s global multi-sport championship, having been postponed until 2022, this year’s National championships gave Britain’s players their first chance since the 2020 championships to test themselves against their peers.

    Congratulations to Lewis and Esah and to Dan.

    To see all the results from the National Deaf Tennis Championships, please click here

  • 2020 LTA County Award Presentations

    2020 LTA County Award Presentations

    Wiltshire Tennis were delighted to finally be able to present four of the County awards from this year’s LTA Tennis Awards. The presentations had been delayed due to Covid19 restrictions.

    Presentations were made to Mark Tyrrell of Marshfield TC who won the Volunteer of the Year Award.

    Mark Tyrrell was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award from Phil Evans (Wiltshire Tennis Chairman) and Liz Bissett (Wiltshire Tennis Secretary & LTA Councillor)

    Two awards were presented at Swindon Tennis Centre. The venue won the Communities and Parks Award and Head Coach, Craig Loxton, was awarded the Coach of the Year. 

    Award presented to Helen Clement (Centre Customer Service Team Leader) with Roger Henry (Wiltshire Tennis)
    Craig Loxton receiving the Coach of the Year award from Roger Henry (Wiltshire Tennis)

    Riverside TC were presented with the Club Of the Year Award and also their Regional Club of the Year award at their opening of their new courts in September. Congratulations on this fantastic achievement!

    Riverside TC – Regional Club of the Year Award
    Carolyn Barry receiving the County Club of the Year Award from Wiltshire Secretary Liz Bissett

    Many congratulations to all the award winners.

  • LTA launches campaign to inspire more people to play wheelchair tennis – and find future champions

    LTA launches campaign to inspire more people to play wheelchair tennis – and find future champions

    Budding wheelchair sportspeople across the country will have the chance to show off their tennis skills at a series of try-out days organised by the LTA – starting this month.

    The LTA Wheelchair Tennis Initiative aims to attract, inspire and engage people with physical impairments into the sport and the taster days will include activities to cater for every skill level.

    Following each event, the LTA will direct each participant towards opportunities to continue playing that are most appropriate for their skill level. These could be local venues offering recreational wheelchair tennis activity through the LTA Open Court programme, or centres delivering elite training as part of the LTA Wheelchair Performance Pathway.

    Each of the days will run for approximately three hours and will include fun and engaging content for players of all standards, experience, ages and abilities. All sessions are free to take part in, and will be delivered by experienced LTA Performance Wheelchair Tennis coaches, who will help equip participants with new qualities, skills and attributes required for tennis.

    All equipment, including sports wheelchairs to participate, tennis rackets and balls will be provided on the days.

    LTA Wheelchair Talent Initiative Taster Days

    Saturday 17 July: Dan Maskell Tennis Centre – Loughborough

    Sunday 29 August: Scotstoun Leisure & Tennis Centre – Glasgow

    Saturday 4 September: Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre – London

    Sunday 26 September: Bolton Arena – Bolton

    Saturday 9 October: Colwyn Bay Tennis Centre – Wales

    Sunday 10 October: Swansea Tennis Centre – Wales

    Sunday 17 October: White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre – Abingdon

    Helen Reesby, LTA Head of Wheelchair Performance Pathway, said: “We’re really pleased to be able to confirm dates for these events and can’t wait to get out and meet everyone who wants to get involved in our sport. The exciting thing about these events is that there are options for everyone to carry on playing and enjoying tennis once they’ve had a go for the first time – whether they just want to continue playing casually and meet new people through our Open Court programme, or they show potential to develop into elite players. Wheelchair tennis is easily adaptable from the non-wheelchair version of the game, and is great for physical and mental health, so I’d encourage anyone with an interest to come and have a go.”

    To sign up to one of the days, simply complete the registration form and select which day you would like to attend. For all enquiries related to the Wheelchair Tennis Initiative, please email [email protected].

    WHEELCHAIR SESSIONS IN WILTSHIRE

    Royal Wootton Bassett TC hold weekly Wheelchair Tennis sessions – for more details please contact Ali Ward Tel: 07737 592057 Email: [email protected]

  • National virtual LTA Awards Ceremony

    National virtual LTA Awards Ceremony

    The National virtual LTA Awards Ceremony are taking place this Thursday 24th June at 8pm.

    We are delighted to confirm that Riverside TC, who won our Wiltshire Club of the year award and St Marys Calne Tennis Academy, who won the Wiltshire Education Award,  went onto win the South West Regional awards and therefore now represent Wiltshire and the South West at these National Awards.

    Please tune in and watch the awards and see if we have a Wiltshire Winner!

    Where to watch

    You can watch the ceremony on the LTA Awards page here. For the third successive year the evening will be presented by Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith OBE, with a selection of players, celebrities and special guests presenting the awards.

    There will be a 5 minute countdown at 19:55 showing a photo and video roll of the incredible achievements of the nominees.

    For a slice of the action now, you can check out the preview video as well on the LTA Awards page.

    All at Wiltshire Tennis wish Riverside and St Marys Calne the very best of luck at the finals.

  • 2020 Wiltshire’s LTA Tennis Award Winners

    2020 Wiltshire’s LTA Tennis Award Winners

    Wiltshire Tennis are delighted to announce the local heroes who are honoured as part of the LTA Tennis Awards.

    Mark Tyrrell of Marshfield TC  has been named the Volunteer of the Year for Wiltshire.  Throughout the many challenges of 2020 Mark has shown a great dedication to ensuring that the club continue to thrives.

    Other winners include Craig Loxton from Swindon Tennis Centre who was awarded the Coach of the Year.  Craig has shown fantastic teamwork and leadership skills to help the venue grow their programme substantially.   

    Riverside TC (Club of the Year), Swindon Tennis Centre (Communities and Parks Award) and St Marys Calne Tennis Academy (Education Award) are celebrating being awarded the best venues in the county for tennis, based on criteria such as coaching and opportunities to play.

    Liz Bissett, Wiltshire Tennis Secretary and LTA Councillor commented: “The standard of the entries was really high and we’d like to congratulate all of the winners. The judges had a tough job to select the winners and it is heartening to award those who put so much effort into tennis in their venues ”

    The awards are an initiative by the LTA and champion the people who deliver tennis.

    • Volunteer of the Year Award – Mark Tyrrell (Marshfield TC)
    • Coach of the Year Award – Craig Loxton (Swindon Tennis Centre)
    • Club of the Year Award – Riverside TC
    • Communities and Parks Award – Swindon Tennis Centre
    • Education Award – St Mary’s Calne Tennis Academy

    The winners will receive their county awards at their venue once restrictions are lifted and it is safe to do so.

    The winners now go through to a regional judging panel with regional winners announced in April. The national ceremony will be held later in the year.

    Many congratulations to all the winners and everyone who was nominated for an award.

    To find out more about the LTA Tennis Awards, visit www.lta.org.uk/awards

  • Catherine and Lewis Fletcher Honoured In Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Awards

    Catherine and Lewis Fletcher Honoured In Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Awards

    Wiltshire’s Catherine and Lewis Fletcher have multiple reasons to celebrate at the end of a difficult 2020 after members of the Great Britain Deaf Tennis Team were voted winners in a record three categories in the Deaf Sport Personality of the Year (DSPY) Awards. 

    Catherine was voted Coach of the Year for the first time, while Lewis was shortlisted for the overall Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Award along with being an integral member of the Great Britain Team managed by the LTA that was voted Team of the Year. 

    The Great Britain team won an unprecedented five medals at the 2019 World Deaf Tennis Championships in Antalya, Turkey, their achievement subsequently seeing them finish ahead of teams from football and rugby in an online public vote for the biennial DSPY Awards launched in early December. 

    Catherine, who was one of the first recipients of the Team of the Year Award back in 2010 after winning the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2009 Deaflympics, has been the LTA’s National Deaf Tennis Coach since 2013. She said:  

    “I’m absolutely thrilled to win the Coach of the Year award and would like to say a big thank you to all those who voted for me and to the LTA for their support and encouragement.  After many years as a player, being National Coach allows me to be involved in something that I have so much passion for and to give back to the sport that has given me so much over the years. I feel very privileged to have an excellent team around me and players who are extremely dedicated.  

    “To add to the team and family success, my brother Andy Graham is our team sports therapist and has been excellent support working alongside me and instrumental in helping give our players the best possible preparation. All the off-court work is just as vital. To gain a hat-trick of DSPY Awards is a real reward for all the hard work, commitment and successes from everyone and to be voted Team of the Year Award, in particular, is very fitting.”  

    Lewis partnered Middlesex’s Esah Hayat and Yorkshire’s Phoebe Suthers to win men’s doubles and mixed doubles silver medals at the 2019 World Deaf Tennis Championships and also partnered the same two players to win back-to-back men’s doubles and mixed doubles GB National titles in each of the last two years. He took his personal tally of National Deaf Tennis Championships titles across all events to 17 at the National Tennis Centre in London in September this year.  

    The DSPY Awards were launched in 2010 to celebrate the achievements of deaf athletes in both deaf and hearing sport. Alongside their dedication to deaf tennis, Catherine and Lewis are also joint Head Coaches at Ramsbury Tennis Club in Wiltshire. Lewis was named Tennis Wiltshire Coach of the Year in 2019, with Ramsbury Tennis Club named South West Club of the Year. Theirs is success built upon outstanding mutual support for each other. 

    Lewis said: “I’m extremely proud of Catherine for winning the Coach of the Year Award and to be a part of such a magnificent team that have been voted Team of the Year, with my two talented doubles partners Esah and Phoebe nominated for Young Deaf Sports Personality of the Year. Many congratulations to Phoebe for being voted Young Deaf Sports Personality. 

    While I would have loved to have finished in the top three for the overall Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Award, I’m delighted to have made the shortlist after an outstanding few years for British deaf tennis. We will continue to give our all as we work towards the 2021 Deaflympics. Catherine already has a Deaflympics doubles gold medal and I shall be doing my best to add at least one more to that tally.”    

    To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email [email protected]

  • Wiltshire’s Lewis Fletcher takes tally of National Titles to 17 at 2020 National Deaf Tennis Championships

    Wiltshire’s Lewis Fletcher takes tally of National Titles to 17 at 2020 National Deaf Tennis Championships

    Ramsbury TC and County Coach, Lewis Fletcher, took his personal tally of National Deaf Tennis Championships titles to 17 at the end of September after claiming his ninth men’s doubles title and his sixth mixed doubles title at the 2020 event organised by the LTA at the National Tennis Centre in London.

    Lewis, partnered East Finchley’s Esah Hayat to their third successive men’s doubles title together at the National Championships after they secured three straight sets wins in their three round-robin matches. The two-time World Championships silver medallists wrapped up their successful title defence with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jack Clifton and Peter Willcox in Sunday’s decisive contest. Lewis had previously partnered Clifton to win the 2015 title, with Willcox his partner in winning a further five titles between 2005 and 2014.

    Also a former two-time men’s singles champion, Lewis partnered West Yorkshire’s Phoebe Suthers to their second successive mixed doubles title as the World Championships silver medallists eased past Hayat and Valerie Copenhagen 6-0, 6-1.  

    Watched by his wife Catherine, the LTA’s National Deaf Tennis Coach, with whom he had won three of his previous four mixed doubles titles, Lewis reflected on his latest successes with great satisfaction. He said:

    “It was very refreshing to be back in competitive action after so long out and great to see all the other competitors. I had a lot of fire in the belly to compete and felt great going into both doubles events. The atmosphere was, no doubt, a bit different from normal, but I was happy to play some very solid tennis and add more titles to the collection. I count myself lucky to still be able to play.”

    With the European Deaf Tennis Championships that were due to have taken place in Germany in July having being cancelled, due to the pandemic, Lewis, Hayat and Suthers are among the players on the LTA’s Deaf Tennis Performance Programme now building towards the 24th Deaflympics, which are due to take place in Brazil in December 2021.

    Find out more about how to get involved with disability tennis through the LTA Open Court Programme, which supports over 500 venues across the UK to deliver disability specific sessions including learning disability, wheelchair, visually impaired and deaf tennis. The programme is funded by Sport England and the LTA and delivered at a local level.

    To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email [email protected] or contact Kathryn in the County Office for any Wiltshire Disability Tennis enquiry on email [email protected]

    Lewis and Phoebe Suthers – Mixed Doubles Champions
  • LTA Home Activities Hub

    LTA Home Activities Hub

    The LTA have created a tennis at home activities hub with lots of fun exercises and activities for all the family. You can improve your tennis skills any time, any place, with the LTA Home Activities hub.

    The LTA Home Activities hub consists of four areas –

    Tennis at Home Exercises – short videos containing tennis exercises
    Activity Cards – Fun, simple activities including colouring, word searches and quizzes.
    Personal Development Challenges – to explore and develop qualities such as resilience, perseverance, passion and respect.
    Learning Activities – tennis themed school lesson activities including numeracy, literacy, gerography and science.

    Click on a link below to be taken to the LTA Home Activities hub

    LTA Home Activities Hub

  • 2019 Wiltshire Tennis Award Winners

    2019 Wiltshire Tennis Award Winners

    Wiltshire Tennis are delighted to announce the local heroes who are honoured as part of the LTA Tennis Awards in Wiltshire.

    The Awards were presented by Sir Geoffrey Owen, Wiltshire Tennis President, at the Wiltshire Tennis AGM earlier this month.

    The LTA Tennis Awards 2019:

    • Club of the Year – Wanborough Tennis Club
    • Coach of the Year – Lewis Fletcher (Ramsbury TC)
    • Community Award – Trowbridge Town Park
    • Volunteer of the Year– Karen Wigley (Marshfield TC)
    • Competition of the Year – The Minety Open Tournament
    • Young Person of the Year – Theo Lewis
    • Lifetime Achievement Award – Colin Gratton (Pewsey TC)

    The winners now go through to a regional judging panel with regional winners announced in April.

    An additional award for the Player of the Year was presented to William Burridge.

    Many congratulations to all the winners.

    2019 Award Winners
    Colin Gratton – Lifetime Achievement Award
    Karen Wigley – Volunteer Award
    Lewis Fletcher – Coach of the Year
    Andy Dickinson from Minety TC – Competition of the Year
    Wanborough TC – Club of the Year
  • Lewis claims 2 silver medals as Great Britain’s deaf tennis stars claim five medals at 2nd World Deaf Tennis Championships in Antalya

    Lewis claims 2 silver medals as Great Britain’s deaf tennis stars claim five medals at 2nd World Deaf Tennis Championships in Antalya

    Lewis Fletcher from Ramsbury TC gained 2 silver medals in the senior men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals at the 2nd World Deaf Tennis Championships in Turkey.

    Great Britain players completed the Championships with a tremendous haul of five medals across senior and junior events, including the gold medal in the junior mixed doubles on Saturday’s final afternoon of competition at Antalya Tennis Club in Turkey.

    The four-strong squad, selected by the LTA, the governing body of tennis in Britain, won one gold medal, three silver medals and one bronze medal, with two of the silver medals coming in the senior men’s and mixed doubles.

    Esah Hayat and Phoebe Suthers, who were crowned European junior mixed doubles champions in 2016, beat Czech second seeds Jaroslav Smedek and Katerina Blascikova 6-0, 6-7(6), (10-6) on Saturday afternoon to become World Champions and add to the boys’ singles silver and girls’ singles bronze medals they secured earlier on the last of the eight days of play.

    Seventeen-year-old Hayat and 16-year-old Suthers, who were gold and bronze medallists, respectively, in their junior singles events at the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships in Nottingham in 2015, end the latest championships with three medals apiece. They each partnered 34-year-old Lewis to gain silver medals in the senior men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals on Friday’s penultimate day of competition.

    Hayat finished runner-up in his second World Championships boys’ singles final as Czech top seed Smedek earned a narrow 7-6(5), 6-4 victory. Hayat said:

    “I’ve had a great week and am really pleased with getting two silvers and a gold. We have all come through some close battles this week and we’ve worked well as a team to get our medals. In my opinion, GB is becoming a stronger team on the world stage every year, and we will be working hard for more medals next year’s European Championships.” 

    In Friday’s mixed doubles final, Fletcher and Suthers looked to be on course for what would have been Great Britain’s first World Championships gold medal at senior level as they took a 5-2 lead in the deciding match tie-break against Urs Breitenberger and Heike Albrecht, but the German top seeds regained the momentum to take the gold medal 6-1, 4-6, (10-5).

    Suthers, who led Anastasiia Lasitca by a set and 2-0 before the Russian had to retire injured from their girls’ singles bronze medal match, said:

    “It’s been a brilliant trip, I’ve really enjoyed it and it feels so great to walk away with three World Championships medals. We managed to finish on a high with the gold medal and that caps so many amazing memories that have been made here in Turkey.”

    Men’s doubles fourth seeds Fletcher and Hayat fought back from 5-2 down in the third and deciding set of Friday’s first final involving a British partnership, but ultimately German second seeds Breitenberger and Sebastian Schäffer held on to secure the gold medal 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

    Fletcher, who also partnered Hayat to win the silver medal for Great Britain at last year’s Dresse Cup, the World Deaf Tennis Team Championships, at the same venue, said:

    “It was great being up on the podium with both my doubles partners and a proud moment to see the Great Britain flag flying high. Deep down, getting silver has only made me even more hungry to go in search of gold next time. We were so close in both finals. It always seems to come down to a couple of points. I would like to thank all the supporters back home, my teammates, our coach, Catherine (Fletcher) for her continuous support and devotion to deaf tennis – but, of course mainly as my wife. Also Andy Graham, our sports therapist and the LTA. Without them this week wouldn’t have been possible, nor would we have done so well.”

    With the four-strong British squad having reached semi-finals in a total of six events in Antalya, the only medal not to come from those six events was in the women’s doubles, as Valerie Copenhagen and Suthers lived up to their fourth seeding. Copenhagen and Suthers slipped to a 6-1, 6-4 loss to French top seeds Marine Beney and Lucie Boulestreau in Saturday’s bronze medal play-off.

    Copenhagen said: “We’re gutted to have lost out in the women’s doubles bronze play-off, but overall it’s been an amazing experience, with lots to take away for the future. I’m looking forward to upping my training and getting back to work on and off the court, ready for the next championships. Many thanks must go to our coaching and support team this week. Lots of memories have been made and there are many more to be made in the future.”

    For a round-up of results from the 2nd World Deaf Tennis Championships, head to the LTA’s Deaf Tennis Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BritishDeafTennis/ or visit the Championship’s official website: https://www.wdtc2019.com/shedule

  • Lewis through to two finals as Great Britain’s deaf tennis stars earn unprecedented World Championships success in Antalya

    Lewis through to two finals as Great Britain’s deaf tennis stars earn unprecedented World Championships success in Antalya

    Great Britain’s deaf tennis players are assured of unprecedented success at the 2nd World Deaf Tennis Championships, with a squad of four players selected by the LTA set to play for six medals, including at least two silver medals, over the course of the next two days in Antalya, Turkey.  

    Lewis Fletcher from Ramsbury,  Esah Hayat, Valerie Copenhagen and Phoebe Suthers will play for medals in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles events, with Fletcher and Hayat already through to play for the gold medal in men’s doubles and Fletcher and Suthers through to the mixed doubles final.

    Hayat and Fletcher beat India’s Prasanth Dasharta Hamsabhavi and Prithvi Sekhar 7-5, 6-4 in Thursday’s men’s doubles semi-finals at Antalya Tennis Club. Fourth seeds Fletcher and Hayat will now play German second seeds Urs Breitenberger and Sebastian Schäffer in Friday’s final as the British duo bid to go one better than when winning the silver medal for Great Britain in last year’s Dresse Cup World Deaf Tennis Team Championships at the same venue.

    Later on Thursday afternoon second seeds Fletcher and Suthers beat third seeds Schäffer and Verena Fleckenstein 6-3, 6-2 to book their place in Friday’s mixed doubles final, were they will meet a second German partnership, top seeds Breitenberger and Heike Albrecht.

    Fletcher said: “It’s a nice feeling being in the finals and after last year’s Dresse Cup result it shows GB are one of the main contenders. I’m delighted to be sharing these two finals with Esah and Phoebe, but also for making a wise decision on playing doubles only here. It has paid off, but I am keen to go one step further and take the titles in both events. We would be the first GB players to do so. We have very much adopted the British doubles system and trusted this, even when things are not going our way. We will see what the finals bring!”

    Seventeen-year-old Hayat, who will also contest Friday’s boys’ singles semi-finals, said: “I’m really pleased to have made the men’s doubles final. We came through some very tough matches and I’m hoping to go one better than last year in the Dresse Cup and get my first men’s senior gold medal. I’m also very excited to go out there again tomorrow in the junior singles and doubles events.”

    Sixteen-year-old Suthers, who will contest the girls’ singles semi-finals and the junior mixed doubles semi-finals alongside Hayat on Friday, as well as the senior mixed doubles final, said: “I’m very, very pleased with the mixed doubles result and I couldn’t be more delighted to be in the final and to have a guaranteed medal. Lewis and I have brilliant teamwork which makes anything possible. Val and I did extremely well to get to the women’s doubles semi-finals and it’s all to play for for the bronze medal.”

    Four years ago Hayat became the first ever World Champion in boys’ singles, when the inaugural World Deaf Tennis Championships for individuals was staged on British soil, in Nottingham. Hayat plays Russian Vladislav Abramov on Friday for a place in this year’s final. Suthers won the bronze medal in the girls’ singles in 2015 and the reigning women’s singles national champion plays Japan’s Riko Suzuki in Friday’s semi-finals in a bid to reach the gold medal match. Fourth seeds Copenhagen and Suthers will play French top seeds Marine Beney and Lucie Boulestreau for the women’s doubles bronze medal after both partnerships were beaten by Japanese team in their respective semi-finals.

    For updates and results throughout the Championships, head to the LTA’s Deaf Tennis Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BritishDeafTennis/ or keep up to date via the Championship’s official website: https://www.wdtc2019.com/shedulue.

  • Lewis In the GB squad for World Deaf Tennis Championships

    Lewis In the GB squad for World Deaf Tennis Championships

    The LTA, the governing body for tennis in Britain, has announced the four players who will represent Great Britain at the second ever World Deaf Tennis Championships in Turkey later this week.

    Taking place from 12th – 19th October in Antalya, Turkey, the Championships will see players from 18 countries battling it out across singles, doubles and mixed doubles events in a bid to win medals on behalf of their nation.

    Sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), the first Deaf Tennis Championships took place in Nottingham in 2015. Designed to enhance the existing calendar of major international deaf tennis events, which includes regional championships in Europe, AsiaPacific and the PanAmericas, as well as the Dresse and Maere Cups, the event serves to increase the number of elite competitive opportunities for deaf players across the world.

    Accompanied by Head Coach Catherine Fletcher and supporting coach Andrew Graham, the following players have been selected to represent Great Britain at this year’s event:

    •           Lewis Fletcher – 34, Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire

    •           Esah Hayat – 17, Finchley, London

    •           Phoebe Suthers – 16, Elland, Yorkshire

    •           Valerie Copenhagen – 36, Ruislip, Middlesex

    Speaking about his selection, 17-year old Hayat – who won gold in the Boys’ singles at the last World Deaf Championships in 2015, commented: “I’m a lot more confident that I can play at the level of all the other top senior players this year. The last World Championships were really good, but this time I will have the experience from Nottingham to draw on and I will be even more prepared. Lewis and I are a much better doubles pair than I could have ever expected and I believe we can beat anyone. We will be going for gold in Turkey. We played really well last year at the Dresse Cup and we’ve been able to practise even more this year, too.”

    Echoing Hayat’s enthusiasm, 16-year old Suthers, who won bronze at the last Championships in 2015 added: “I’m very much looking forward to this year’s World Championships and I think it will be another amazing experience. Hopefully I will be able to bring a medal home for GB again, but it will be tough. It’s been a roller-coaster journey since the 2015 Worlds. There have been many ups and downs, but I’ve managed to bring myself up and fight the downs to get in the secure position that I’m in now. I’ve learnt that tennis is about dedication and never giving up.”

    Fletcher – who also competed at the World Championships in 2015 and partnered Hayat to win the silver medal for Great Britain at the 2018 Dresse Cup, commented: “I am very pleased with my recent performances at the National Championships alongside my partners Esah and Phoebe. I really believe if we play the way we are we have high hopes of medals in Turkey. Esah and I set the benchmark last year at the Dresse Cup World Team Championships, winning the silver medal, so I see no reason why we can’t continue that success and go one better at the Worlds.”

    Copenhagen – who contested her first major international event at the World Championships in 2015 added: “I can’t believe it has been four years since my first ever international tournament. I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am, both on and off court. It is such a special opportunity to represent GB again and I’m really looking forward to it. I want to do the best I can with the draw I have and leave everything on court. I can’t wait to play with Phoebe in the doubles – our practices have gone really well and she is so lovely to play alongside.

    Commenting ahead of the team’s departure, the LTA’s National Deaf Tennis Coach Catherine Fletcher, who has also represented Great Britain in numerous major international events said:  “After the success we enjoyed in Nottingham four years ago I’m really excited to head out to Turkey with our four-strong team for the second ever World Deaf Tennis Championships. The team have all gained valuable international experience over the past few years and we’ve had significant medal success at recent championships. We have a great blend of youth and experience and I hope we will return home successful.”

    For most information visit the LTA website at https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2019/october/world-deaf-tennis-championships-gb-squad-announced/.

    For updates and results throughout the Championships, head to the LTA’s Deaf Tennis Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BritishDeafTennis/ or keep up to date via the Championship’s official website: https://www.wdtc2019.com/shedulue.

  • WILTSHIRE’S LEWIS FLETCHER CELEBRATES 14TH NATIONAL DEAF TENNIS TITLE

    WILTSHIRE’S LEWIS FLETCHER CELEBRATES 14TH NATIONAL DEAF TENNIS TITLE

    Great Bedwyn’s Lewis Fletcher is celebrating taking his collection of National titles to 14 over the weekend after he won both the men’s and mixed doubles competitions at the 2019 National Deaf Tennis Championships at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

    Fletcher, 34, a two-time men’s singles National champion, chose to focus on the doubles events this year and it’s a decision that paid off as he left London having won both the men’s and mixed doubles titles in the same year for the just the second time.

    Before this year Fletcher’s three mixed doubles National titles had come with his wife Catherine, who is now the LTA’s National Deaf Tennis Coach, with the most recent of their titles coming in 2013.

    However, partnering Yorkshire’s Phoebe Suthers for the first time, Fletcher returned to the top of the podium after a tense final. Having dropped just two games on their way to the title decider, second seeds Fletcher and Suthers fought back from a set down to beat top seeds Esah Hayat and Valerie Copenhagen 4-6, 6-1, (13-11), with Fletcher claiming his fourth mixed doubles National title. He said:

    “Having made the choice just to play doubles this last weekend, it turned out to be a joy. I’ve wanted to focus on doubles for a little while, as apart from my two National singles titles, all my national and international successes in deaf tennis have come from doubles.”

    Victory in the men’s doubles came in more straightforward fashion as Fletcher and Hayat duly lived up to their top seeding, beating second seeds and former three-time National champions Sidney Falconer and Peter Willcox 6-1, 6-1 to earn a successful title defence.

    Now an eight-time men’s doubles National champion with three different partners since 2005, Fletcher added.

    “I am very pleased and comfortable with my performances along with my doubles partners, Esah and Phoebe. I really believe if we play the way we are, we have high hopes of international medals in the future. Esah and I set the benchmark last year at the Dresse Cup World Team Championships, winning the silver medal for Great Britain. So I see no reason why we can’t continue that success and be gold medallists next time.”

    Inspired by Lewis and interested in trying deaf tennis? To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email [email protected].

  • MINI RED FUN TEAM FESTIVAL

    The annual Mini Red Team Tennis Festival at the Delta Tennis Centre was a great success.

    The event as always was well attended with 16 teams of 4 players competing from across Wiltshire.

    The young players are tested throughout the day with a tennis quiz, serving, rallying and skills test plus so fun team doubles matches. It was great to see these mini red players having fun and playing competitive matches for what might have been the first time ever.

    The results were extremely close with the Biddestone Braves coming 3rd. The Delta Dragons coming second and the Pewsey Pirates taking home the title. Congratulations to all the teams involved. 

  • Wilts LTA Golf Day 2019

    Wilts LTA Golf Day 2019

    The Wiltshire LTA Golf day at Marlborough Golf Club was played in glorious sunshine. All the competitors enjoyed the day and there was some great scoring.

    Ali Ward, from Royal Wootton Bassett TC, scored an impressive 42 points to win the individual prize with Barry Cawte from GLL the Runner-up.

    The team prize was won by the Delta/Ramsbury team of Neil Little, Neil Watts and Steve Yeardley with 81 points. The Royal Wootton Bassett team – Ali Ward, Chris Long and Shaun Smith – were the team runner-ups.

    Nearest the pin was won by Terrance Dixon from Pewsey, (33ins)  with Phil Evans, County Chairman, picking up the nearest the pin in 2 shots (72ins)

    Thanks to all the teams who entered and see you next year.

    Delta & Ramsbury – Team Winners
    Royal Wootton Bassett – Team Runner-up
    Ali Ward – Individual Winner
    Barry Cawte – Individual Runner-up
    Phil Evans – Nearest the Pin in 2 shots Winner
    Terrance Dixon – Nearest the Pin Winner
    Phil Evans, Sam Kemp and Roger Jones
    Royal Wootton Bassett Team
    Pewsey Team
    LTA Team
    GLL Team
    Delta & Ramsbury Team
  • Tennis Opened Up

    Tennis Opened Up

    The LTA recently announced a new vision for tennis in Britain, as part of a long term strategy to grow the sport and open it up to many more people.  You can read more about this on the LTA’s website, but the below gives a brief overview.

    Working closely together with County Associations, including our own, the LTA develops tennis in Britain from grassroots participation through to the professional game.  By all aligning behind the sport’s new vision of ‘Tennis Opened Up’, and the mission is to grow the sport by making it relevant, accessible, welcoming and enjoyable, we can help more people enjoy the benefits of our amazing sport and get involved in the way they want to.

    Tennis is a sport that anyone can play; whatever their ability, and whatever community or background they are from.  They can play at any age and for a whole lifetime, and it can provide physical, social and mental rewards both on and off the court. As lovers of the sport, we all know this, but we want tennis to be open to as many people as possible, across the whole of Britain.

    The new vision will be at the heart of everything the sport does going forward, and it is something everyone involved in tennis can get behind.  Collectively, we want to see many more people pick up a racket, whether it’s for the first time, or the first time in a while. We want to enable men and women of all ages and abilities to play more often, all year round. We know starting early is crucial to playing for the long-term too. We need more children to start playing and will do what it takes to make it as easy as possible for parents and kids across the whole of Britain to choose tennis, building new and developing existing relationships with schools and local communities, so more kids and young people than ever before are able to pick up a racket.

    There remains a commitment to delivering a clear route for players to develop too – from starter sessions with our brilliant accredited coaches, to first-class support at the new National Academies due to open in the Autumn. The Player Pathway for tennis in Britain is designed to find and nurture the next generation of champions, with a particular focus on enabling young players to break into the top 100, win medals at the Olympics and Paralympics, and in turn, inspire fans across the nation.

    Without volunteers, coaches, officials, clubs and venues, tennis simply can’t exist.  They all play an essential role in the future of our sport, and so they will be provided with the right investment and support, while we will continue to celebrate their wonderful work through our County Awards and at a regional and national level through the LTA Tennis Awards.

    Continuing to build the visibility of tennis will help engage with thousands more fans so that we can bring them closer to the sport, offering new ways for them to enjoy and get the most out of tennis.  Britain has a reputation for staging truly world-class tennis tournaments, and this standout calendar of major tennis events will continue, taking tennis to new areas with events throughout the year, so as many people as possible can watch top-class tennis action.

    We hope you share this vision for tennis for Britain, and the desire to see our sport and its benefits opened up to as many people as possible.  To keep up to date with all the latest news and developments, make sure you check the LTA’s website www.LTA.org.uk and follow their official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Alternatively, if you have any questions you can contact the LTA’s Services Team on 020 8487 7000 or via [email protected].

  • Rebecca finishes Runner-Up at Tennis Europe event

    Rebecca finishes Runner-Up at Tennis Europe event

    Rebecca Heaps, who trains at Delta Tennis Centre, Swindon, finished the Easter holidays on a high at the Tennis Europe 14U event at Nottingham last week.

    The week started with a tough draw against the No 1 seeded Belgian girl Flo Helsen, Rebecca won 7-6 6-0. A great start.

    Next round was against the British girl Amelie Brooks who Rebecca breezed past 6-2 6-1. Next was a South West rival, Mimi Xu, With Rebecca losing the first set 6-1 it looked like the week was over but she managed to bring it back and win the next two sets 6-3 6-4.

    On Semi finals day she was up against Emily Pollard. After rain delays and a move onto the indoor courts, Rebecca won with a comfortable 6-1 6-4. 

    Into the finals we go, Gabia Paskauskas was going to be a tough one having lost to her at the grade 2 event the previous week. The match was great and the points went on and on with each girl refusing to give in but unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Rebecca who lost 6-3 7-5. A fantastic week was had and lots learnt from the week. Well done Rebecca!

    Becky Watts

  • Tennis is a smashing success in Swindon!

    Tennis is a smashing success in Swindon!

    On Sunday 7th April, Delta Tennis Centre celebrated its 30th anniversary, bringing the community together and welcoming over 1000 visitors.

    On the week commencing the 1st April 2019 The Tennis Team at Delta Tennis Centre embarked on a weeks long roadshow, to deliver tennis sessions to 10 local primary schools in Swindon. The aim of this was to encourage new children in Key Stage 1 to experience tennis for the first time. Steve Yeardley (Tennis Manager) and Matt Rutland (Tennis Coach and Community Tennis Lead) visited 10 schools which saw 1200 children take part in coached tennis activities.

    The conclusion of the Roadshow saw Delta Tennis Centre open its doors to the local community for its 30th Anniversary. The Celebration offered those that attended a wide range of free activities such as coached junior sessions, cardio tennis, free play and family tennis.

    Over 1000 attendees visited the centre over the course of the day, 290 of these were booked into tennis specific events. A team of 15 staff including 10 tennis leaders (trained from within the programme) helped on the day and all enabled this event to be a huge success. Delta’s local supermarket, Waitrose, were on hand to offer strawberries and cream throughout the day to get guests in the Wimbledon mood, while also raising £75 on the refreshment stand for Stand Up To Cancer.