The journey started in 2013 when the Newcastle venue ran a Great British Tennis Weekend Open Day, which was in conjunction with the LTA’s national campaign to get more people playing more often. This successful event was repeated in 2014 but resulted in no new members. With the LTA’s campaign continuing in 2015, JLTC reviewed the previous year and decided to take a different approach to see if they could capitalise and encourage even more people to get involved.
Rather than hold a single Fun Day this year the club decided to hold four lower key events aimed at getting more players of all ages into the club. The 4 Free Sunday Taster sessions at JLTC have resulted in 11 new adult members, 2 new juniors (family memberships) and 2 Hon members. In addition to this, there are 8 people on the new beginner course and 4 who attend Rusties coaching and those that haven’t joined yet are considering joining too.
In parallel with Social Play the venue have been hosting a Sunday adult hitting session from 4-6pm in July and August to help new members meet other members. Regular club players are on hand to get them started and to ensure that there are people to hit with. This session is not coached - but gives the players an opportunity to put what they learn at coaching into practice. The committee have suggested the players also swop contact details with other members to arrange games at other times, which they are doing. Feedback has been really positive about the intervention, particularly from the new players who have enjoyed playing with people of similar standard.
Jill Foster (Hon Secretary JLTC) is delighted with the club’s development over the summer months,
“With the Sunday Tennis Taster sessions, we aimed to give potential new members a more authentic experience of what playing at a tennis club was like by effectively inviting them into a Social Play session and making their initial experience really positive. Having other people to play with of their own standard is an important factor in retaining members, which is why we have encouraged the new members to come to the Sunday hitting sessions. They are now bringing friends along to join the club!”
Some of the quotes from people who are joining the club as a result of the free June Sunday tennis taster sessions were delighted by their experience,
" I really enjoyed playing at the club on Sunday, great atmosphere! I'll be there again this weekend to get the membership."
" We loved it - such nice people and abundantly patient with our lack of skills!"
Photos are of some of the sessions the club held. Taken by Jill Foster.