The Great British Tennis Weekend took place across 39 venues around the country and Exhibition Park in Newcastle was one of them.
The Tennis Weekend took place last weekend, on the 17th and 18th August to try to keep the amazing year of tennis success we've had going. One year on from Andy and Laura's incredible Olympic experience, and a few months after Andy's historic win at Wimbledon, the Great British Tennis Weekend was held to inspire more people to pick up a racket and play.
The weekend involved venues, including Exhibition Park, across the country offering tennis for free. Not only was 'normal' tennis offered, but also things like Mini Tennis, Cardio Tennis, and coaching. At Exhibition Park, across 2 of the park courts were 6 Mini Tennis courts and some Tennis Factory equipment. The Mini Tennis courts allowed people of all ages and abilities to play and have success really quickly, even if they hadn't ever played before. It went down a storm and the courts were completely full almost the whole day.
Along with being able to play tennis for free on the day, there was a prize draw people could enter to win tickets to the ATP World Tour Finals in London at the end of the year, and also a #backthebrits banner that people could sign to show their support to the Brits at the upcoming US Open. As well as this, local tennis clubs and parks were also offering to continue the free and affordable tennis at their venues afterwards. A lot of them have offers to come and play tennis for free at their facilities and even have free coaching. To find out more about these offers, you can click here.
The event coinsided with 'Picnic in the Park' as well, and consequently there was a great atmosphere with rides, stalls and loads of other events happening in the park.