Hoole has 116 players who have recorded 6+ matches over the last year and 45 players on 20+. How have they acheived such success?
The club's Sarah Rizvi says that "Over the last 18 months we have encouraged our junior members to take part in more matches by making matchplay part of our coaching sessions and part of our Junior Club Night sessions for those members who are keen to play competitive matches as well as playing socially with their friends.
Using "timed" matches has been a great way of incorporating matchplay within the confines of a training session or club night as it has enabled members to play 2 or more matches within a single session.
Coaches Berin Ames and Liam Shelbourne have made sure that results are recorded and submitted regularly to Cheshire LTA in the form of a spreadsheet which is then easily uploaded by Cheshire LTA onto the LTA website.
We have also had teams in several local leagues and many of our junior members have represented the club in a variety of singles and doubles matches. We usually find that once someone has played in a few matches then they want to play in more and more matches. Some members are quite nervous when they first play in a league match, but feeling part of a team in these matches makes it a little less daunting and means that these matches can act as a stepping stone to members taking part in individual competition in tournaments.
By making matchplay a significant part of our activities, more of our juniors are now aware of their rating and how to improve it and several members have taken part in our Grade 4 tournament this year for the first time - 33 Hoole Juniors took part in the tournament and 21 of these were entering a tournament for the first time. We intend to keep the focus on matchplay as it is the best way for the children to improve their game and it also enables them to become more confident, both on and off court.
The Olympics has certainly raised the profile of competing within sports and we will continue to provide as many opportunities for matchplay as we can so that we can foster the competitive spirit amongst our junior members."
Great stuff - well done to all involved!