AEGON GB Davis Cup Team players, Alex Bogdanovic and Jamie Baker took time out from preparations for this weekend’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie against Tunisia in Bolton to put some pupils from St Joseph’s Roman Catholic High School and Sports College through their paces and see how tennis is developing in schools around the country.
The Tennis Foundation (TF), supported by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has been implementing the AEGON Schools Tennis strategy since 2009 to increase children’s access to tennis and Bogdanovic and Baker were on hand to see the new style tennis delivery in action and offer some of their own tennis tips.
Experiencing firsthand just what an impact the initiative is having on pupils in the North West, Bogdanovic said: “In order to encourage more kids to take up the sport and stay involved we want to make tennis more accessible at school and we want them to have a quality first experience and today’s session was exactly that.”
St Joseph’s High School is one of over 9,000 schools around the country to have received support from the AEGON Schools Tennis Programme which provides training, resources and free equipment to schools nationwide. 80 percent of schools offer tennis and 47 percent now have a link to a local place to play tennis.
On top of this, AEGON Schools Tennis has donated more than 250,000 free rackets to schools and trained more than 10,000 teachers since the programme began two years ago. AEGON Schools Tennis provides a range of resources for schools, including an innovative coach-led DVD.
These tools are designed to give teachers everything they need to offer tennis, and to challenge old-fashioned views of the sport. They demonstrate how tennis can be taught in small areas to large groups, whether in the playground or the school hall.
Anthony Turner, Partnership Development Manager at St Joseph’s said: “Tennis is an integral part of schools with us delivering mini tennis in the primary schools and now getting the sport into the secondary schools. We have a vibrant mini tennis league which has developed over the years and the Sports College has really helped develop school-club links by providing access to the facilities to the primary schools.
“To have Alex (Bogdanovic) and Jamie (Baker) visit and take part in our tennis session has been really inspirational for the pupils. It’s great to see high quality tennis players mixing with the pupils here and we’re delighted to have them here. We wish them the best of luck this weekend.”
The LTA and Tennis Foundation are also working to build the links between schools and clubs so more young people continue to play the sport and achieve their potential.
St Joseph’s Roman Catholic High School and Sports College Head of PE, Sue Walsh said: “Since becoming a sports college, tennis has improved steadily every year. It’s very important to us, so much so that we’re the only school in Bolton with a tennis club in the local league, so not only do we play school matches, but we also play club matches.
“In addition we also have 80 pupils registered to play in our club on Saturday mornings, so it’s a growing sport and the pupils are really enjoying it.”
Tom Gibbins, Education Manager at the Tennis Foundation added: "It's great to see pupils from St Joseph’s High School enjoying tennis using the equipment we have donated. We're confident that through AEGON Schools Tennis and by developing links with local places to play, a lasting legacy will be created in thousands of schools for pupils to continue enjoying the sport for many years to come."
The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie against Tunisia will take place from 04-06 March 2011 at the Bolton Arena.
Click here for more Davis Cup information
More information about AEGON Schools Tennis
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