During this time of year there is always speculation about the state of British tennis and where our next champions are going to come from. Local coaching organisation, Tennis Works, who are based at Stony Stratford Tennis Club are bucking a national trend with outstanding success by increasing the numbers of people playing at the club and in the local schools.
Since Tennis Works started operating at Stony Stratford Tennis Club in June last year, they have increased the programme from 66 players to nearly 200 as well as establishing 8 school links with coaches delivering sessions all year round during after school clubs and curriculum time. Through the school links they have taught over 1000 children in the past year and given many a chance to play a game that they have never played before.
The Tennis Works Director of Tennis, John Cavill, said, “The Tennis Works Team has been working extremely hard over the past year to build the programme at the club. It is a wonderful venue and the only way we are going to improve the level of tennis as a nation is to increase the numbers. Our goal is to make tennis accessible to as many people as possible because playing the game isn’t as expensive as many people think, with junior club membership costing just over £1 a week . The schools have been very pleased with our sessions and we are lucky to be working with some great people who are also making a big difference to grass roots tennis.”
As part of a county-wide initiative, Tennis Works hosted a schools festival at the club with 44 children attending. During the festival the players got to play several matches in a team competition with the winning team being put forwards to the local finals against the winning teams from other clubs in the area. Two Mile Ash School took the honours with a very strong team of which two players regularly train within the Tennis Works programme. The winners of the local finals will then compete in the next stage which is the county finals.
Over the Wimbledon period, Tennis Works are going into many new schools in Milton Keynes delivering demo sessions and giving more people more opportunity to benefit from playing tennis. Stony Stratford Tennis Club are also holding an Open Day on Sunday 1st July from 2-4pm with free coaching and a chance for everyone to see North Bucks largest outdoor tennis club.