The long awaited new indoor tennis courts at Harlow Tennis Club were officially opened by Greg Rusedski at a lunchtime event that included a champagne buffet.
The day that was attended by local politicians and council officers, LTA and ECLTA representatives, Summit Construction, Martyn Pattie Architects, and Harlow LTC club members was a tremendous success and this was largely due to the efforts of Greg who showed just what a fantastic ambassador for British Tennis he is.
Greg arrived to be greeted by a ‘sea’ of junior members who had come out of school to get his autograph. He spent about an hour signing everything from tennis balls to socks.
There followed the official opening with club chair, Brenda Newland thanking former LTA chief executive John Crowther for his help in rescuing the project from one of the many hiccups it had faced. Will Calvert chair of the clubs facilities steering committee said that it was the his committees sincere wish that Harlow’s success would encourage other club’s to grasp the difficult nettle of facility development. Will also emphasised the partnership aspect of the project and thanked all concerned. Greg, to rapturous cheers and applause, then went onto unveil a plaque to commemorate the occasion and officially open the indoor courts.
The courts were being used by members of the clubs junior performance programme and youngsters playing mini tennis red, orange, and green, as well as hard ball were ready to put Greg through his paces. He spent the next 90 minutes with the youngsters taking time to hit with every one of them an experience that none of them will forget. The club cannot thank Greg enough for all of his efforts.
Finally a big thank you from the club to Karen Lewis both for her remarkable efforts with the club grounds which look simply magnificent and for co-ordinating the whole day so superbly.