Sussex Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Albion in the Community (AITC), the charitable arm of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, today launched a pilot scheme to deliver tennis lessons in ten primary schools across Sussex.
Sussex LTA is training 27 of AITC’s football coaches as part of the charity’s work in schools to provide multiple sports to children across the county. The aim is to increase tennis participation in schools by training more coaches to deliver quality tennis programmes and create a sustainable legacy for young people to continue playing in the community.
Funded by Sussex LTA, the coaches will now offer tennis as part of AITC’s sports participation programme for the very first time, helping 250 more children play tennis on a weekly basis. By the end of the school term this summer , the teacher training courses delivered to all schools as part of the scheme will ensure a further 1,400 children will have access to the sport. This will form part of AITC’s new offer to help primary schools meet the needs of the government’s focus on schools sport.
Today, all 27 football coaches received their first free training session from the LTA. The bespoke training course will provide support to schools not currently receiving any tennis coaching,and will include funding towards tennis training and equipment.
Andy Trott, LTA Tennis Development Manager for Sussex said: “Our mission at the LTA is to get more people playing more often, and by working in partnership with organisations such as AITC we are enabling more young people the chance to get involved in our sport. This is a really positive move and we look forward to working with AITC on this project.”
Larry May, AITC’s Head of Sports Participation, added “This forms part of our approach to deliver a range of sports coaching in schools across Sussex and not just football. By bringing together the expertise of the LTA, and our team of skilled coaches, this exciting initiative will give more children the chance to take part in sport and be physically active.”