British Tennis has developed a key link with Active Newcastle, which has seen new programmes introduced in parks along with leisure centres and other community venues. This is in addition to the full range of tennis activities offered by outdoor and indoor venues across the city.
With the new opportunities it has been key to identify and train more coaches and volunteers to ensure programmes continue to grow. This has been achieved through positive communication between existing sports networks to identify and encourage new people onto the coaching pathway. Sean Damer, who is based at Jesmond Tennis Club and David Lloyd Newcastle has seized the opportunity by developing links with Northumbria University along with networking through current players, parents and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). From Sean’s hard work Melissa Marshall, Alison Cartmell and Clayton Nagel were identified as aspiring coaches with a desire to get involved with community programmes across Newcastle.
By linking with ucoach, who are one of country’s Coach Education Centres, Melissa, Alison and Clayton embarked on their coaching careers by completing their Level 1 and 2 qualifications. To help with their personal development they got hands on experience through a range of organisations including Active Newcastle, David Lloyd Newcastle, The Northumberland Club, Ponteland Tennis Club, North East Visually Impaired Tennis Club, Tennis For Free, Tyne and Wear Sport and the LTA.
All 3 coaches have different goals and aspirations but the huge range of programmes highlighted above has given them a full spectrum of what tennis can offer, which will enable them to understand what opportunities are out there and decide which direction they want to take in the future.
Alison Cartmell, who came into the sport through her kids playing the game has achieved a huge amount over the past 12 months. Now Level 2 qualified Alison is keen to increase her knowledge so she can offer more detailed advice around technique and tactics. To achieve this Alison is booked on the Level 3 starting in Leeds next month. The qualification will allow her to broaden her range of coaching, which will ultimately have a positive impact on the players she coaches, which will in turn help retain players in the game. The Gosforth based coach will also continue to deliver Cardio Tennis through Parklives along with weekly Tennis For Free sessions at Gosforth Central Park (GCP) and Club programmes.
Melissa Marshall began coaching at a camp in America and began volunteering through Active Newcastle’s programmes once she came back to the UK. Through the LTA’s link with Active Newcastle Melissa was identified as a potential coach, so was introduced through a Tennis Activators course. Following that Melissa booked on to her Level 1, then Level 2 course and has been heavily involved in the Parklives programme, along with StreetGames and the North East Visually Impaired Tennis Club. Melissa became one of the City’s ‘This Girl Can’ Ambassador’s which has seen female participation boom under the Sport England campaign.
Clayton Nagel, who also works at an Estate Agents near Ponteland contacted Sean Damer regarding the Tennis For Free weekly programme being run at GCP. Since then Clayton has helped run the hugely successful sessions that sees over 40 weekly participants. The GCP programme was recently showcased as the highest court to player ratio across the Country! Clayton is also keen to help the schools programme and discussions are taking place with Tyne & Wear Sport to see if there are any opportunities linked to the School Games and Satellite Club programme.
Jo Cunliffe (Regional Tennis Participation Manager) expressed her delight,
“As we know it’s the people who are the key to any success and there are so many opportunities to grow British Tennis but we need a workforce to enable this growth to happen. I am delighted by the progress made in Newcastle and this has been achieved by the people across the City through their unrelenting desire and passion for the game. We are very excited about continuing to see the game grow and inspire more people to play more often!”
Picture: (l-r), Clayton Nagel, Melissa Marshall, Alison Cartmell and volunteer Cole Cartmell