David Lloyd Teesside saw 19 young people attend a Tennis Leaders and Competition Organisers Course this snowy Sunday!
Leslie Snaith who coaches at the Teesside based Club saw his determination to help some of the young players at the centre become even more involved in tennis and reap the benefits themselves by running two courses on Sunday 20th January 2013.
This saw him help lead the session with support from the local Tennis Development Manager Jo Cunliffe and it truly was a fantastic course. The young players were full of enthusiasm and you could tell that they were eager to learn and absorb all the information, skills and knowledge throughout the 5 hours.
The course started with the Tennis Leaders 'Introduction to Tennis' module, which included the candidates leading on mini breakout sessions, learning about the rules and different formats of the game. It was amazing to see them all taking the lead in a number of roles and using their initiative to find solutions to issues. For example what to do if you have too many players than court space. Impressively Melissa and Victoria knew straight away to hit in between the courts without even being told. What was really emphasised by both Leslie and Jo was the importance of using the skills learnt in follow on activities. Therefore Leslie has got a calendar of activities that he will communicate with the newly training Leaders at David Lloyd Teesside!
Furthermore, many of the Young leaders understood how the course can be the first step on their career ladder, gaining valuable skills that can be transferred into other industries.
Following a short break next stop was the 'Competition Organisers' Course. This showed the young people how to run competitions and helping support more localised events for players of all ages and standards. It was incredible to hear at the end that they were asking Leslie how and when they could get involved! If there had been a competition tonight we definitely think they would have volunteered...amazing.
Leslie was buzzing after the course,
"All of the young people were so motivated and clearly wanting to help out as much as possible. The follow on will be vital for them to gain invaluable experience and complement what they have learnt in the two courses today. We have a great plan for David Lloyd Teesside and these new volunteers are going to form a key part of that....its an exciting time for us all and I am really looking forward to seeing how it impacts the Club and the young people themselves!"
All of the candidates will also become members of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation who will aim to give them further information about opportunities across the region and help some of them progress further up the coaching / volunteering / competition organising ladder! To find out more about how to join the Tony Blair Sports Foundation please go here. For further information about British Tennis please visit the website.