Saltford Lawn Tennis Club (SLTC) is entering a new era of floodlit tennis after unveiling improvements to its facilities.
The club has added floodlights to all three courts at the site, ensuring more tennis can be played during the dark nights up until the summer.
The improvements to the facilities were completed thanks to a £25,000 grant from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), with support from Sport England, a further £10,000 loan from the LTA and £12,000 through the club.
Club Chair Sally Hunter said: "We are delighted that with the floodlights in place SLTC will now become a year round club, enabling standards to be raised even further and to help us attract new members.
“The whole look of the club has become more professional and we have received many very positive comments from the local community. We would like to thank the LTA not only for its financial support but also its professional guidance throughout the process."
Club Captain James Meredith said: “There are a lot of people here who have worked very hard to make this happen. It is very satisfying to see all of our plans over the last few years come to fruition.
“Allowing our members to play all year round will only help to bring on their game and stand us in good stead for the future. The club already competes at a high standard but hopefully we will become even more competitive. Exciting times certainly lie ahead.”
SLTC has catered for its community since it came into existence in the late fifties. It has been awarded Clubmark status by the LTA which highlights the club’s continued efforts to achieve the highest standard of club management on an off the court, which its 134 members are benefitting from.
Julie Jones, LTA Tennis Development Manager for Avon and Wiltshire, added: “I’m confident the new floodlights at SLTC will provide more opportunities for the members and local community to access tennis on a year round basis and help them build and improve upon the excellent development programme in place."
The funding has been provided as part of British Tennis’ facilities strategy which has received substantial investment from Sport England. This makes an important contribution to the drive to increase tennis opportunities for people to participate, compete and get access to coaching at all levels of the game in communities nationwide.
Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair, said: “It’s vital that public funding for sport goes into facilities that meet the highest standards, are welcoming, and cater for everyone. That’s how we’re going to get more people using them every day.
“The new facilities at Saltford Lawn Tennis Club will offer even more accessibility for its members and encourage more people from the local community to get involved in the sport.”
The LTA makes financial support available through its resources and ensures investments will deliver the maximum return for British tennis through more people playing and more hours on the court across Britain. There will be an increase in the number and standard of facilities nationwide which will be available to the whole community at a reasonable, affordable cost.
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