Tennis in Portsmouth is thriving as part of a community tennis pilot which has seen investment from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Tennis Foundation to get more people playing in the area.
LTA chief executive Roger Draper joined executive director of the Tennis Foundation Geoff Newton in a tour of Portsmouth as the head of the UK's leading tennis charity visited a number of sites which had received funding.
They attended the official re-opening of the Portsmouth Indoor Tennis Centre, Southsea Tennis Club's refurbishment opening and moved on to see Milton Park's brand new courts.
He said: "It was fantastic to see how the sport is growing in Portsmouth, and the opportunities there are in the city for people to get involved.
"We want to get more people playing tennis more often, and the great work of volunteers and the team here is doing just that."
The indoor tennis centre had completed a £600,000 overhaul thanks to a joint partnership between the Royal Navy and the Portsmouth Tennis Academy and was officially opened by head of Royal Navy, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas.
The pair also attended Southsea Tennis Club's official opening of their new café, the Pavilion Café, as the club has been supported by a £30,000 grant and a £20,000 loan from the LTA and Tennis Foundation to recruit a new coach and refurbish their clubhouse.
The Tennis Foundation is leading on a series of community based pilots with the LTA across eight areas of England, Scotland and Wales to help identify what works best in growing the game, particularly in urban areas, and how to develop a sustainable model at a local level.
The newly refurbished Southsea site will act as a sporting hub for local people where they can now play tennis, socialise, eat and drink at the new café – somewhere for all the family to come and enjoy.
Finally both Mr Draper and Mr Newton visited Milton Park, where the LTA and Tennis Foundation have invested £70,000 to refurbish five public courts which are free to the public to use this summer.
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