Rothley Ivanhoe Tennis Club have been confirmation they’re shining a light on their sport in this area after being presented with a prestigious award.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Tennis Foundation have announced that Rothley has been awarded ‘Beacon’ status as part of the AEGON Parks Tennis programme in recognition of their high quality, affordable community tennis programmes.
The announcement was made on the day of their club championships as Tennis Development Manager for Derbyshire and Lancashire, Paul Sheard presented the ‘Beacon’ plaque to the club.
Andre Porritee and Julia Baley won the singles events at the club day.
A successful summer season saw the first men’s team winning a play off game against Oadby Granville to maintain their Premier League position and promotions for the men’s third team and the ladies second and fourths.
The winter league season sees Rothley entering more teams than any other club in the county.
Club chairman Tom Lewis said: “So many of our members want to play competitions both in the club and against other clubs which is just great and lots of people are taking advantage of our coaching programme and cardio tennis being run by coach Tim Stanton to improve their game and their fitness.
The club is one of 173 sites across the country to achieve the national accolade which recognises the best community-focussed facilities offering free and affordable tennis as part of the AEGON Parks Tennis programme.
To achieve this status, facilities must also offer access to quality, affordable coaching as well as regular competitions for all ages and abilities.
Mr Lewis continued: “We feel very excited about the being awarded Beacon status, because as a club we feel we offer a lot of different activities for the area and that the Beacon award will only raise our profile hopefully increase participation at the club.
“We already offer an extensive coaching programme which features everything from red, orange and green mini tennis to junior and senior programmes every day of the week and we hope that with our new status this will continue to thrive.”
Paul Sheard of the LTA added: “I am delighted that we are able to award Rothley Ivanhoe with Beacon Status. We hope to use it as a mechanism to promote the club in the local communities and to provide affordable and accessible opportunities for local people.”
For more information visit www.rothleytennis.info or contact 0775 7833 360.