LTA President Derek Howarth visited Derbyshire on Sunday 12th July to officially open the indoor courts at Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club.
The courts were completed three years ago, but because the club had spent every last penny completing the project there had never been an official opening to celebrate the development of the new facilities.
These facilities include three indoor tarmac tennis courts as well as an extended and refurbished clubhouse. The ceremony was attended by a range of local tennis dignitaries and LTA officials. In the official opening Club President John Roberts thanked the LTA and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust for contributing significant funding towards the redevelopment, before handing over to Derek Howarth for the official ribbon cutting.
Chesterfield LTC, who are an LTA accredited satellite performance club, put on a range of activities throughout the day. These included a closely fought exhibition match between Derbyshire legend Nick Fulwood and Chesterfield Performance Coach Mat Lowe, in which Lowe emerged triumphant in a deciding tie break. There was also a wheelchair tennis exhibition match between locally based paralympian Alex Jewitt and Tony Knappett, as well as the opportunity for Chesterfield club members to take on the invited players.