Wales’ top tennis talent – on and off the court – has been recognised at the annual Tennis Wales awards.
The winners were announced at a special celebration evening at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday (October 7).
“It has been a remarkable year for Welsh tennis,” said Tennis Wales chief executive Peter Drew. “The winners are truly exceptional individuals and organisations, who deserve congratulations.
“I would also like to pay tribute to the many unsung heroes of Welsh tennis, however – especially the volunteers who are playing such a vital role in the progress and success of the sport in Wales.”
Winners were:
Volunteer of the Year: Collette Richards – Swansea TC
Collette was inspirational in the re-opening of Swansea Tennis Centre. She formed Tennis Swansea 365, a social enterprise of volunteers and produced a business plan to take over the lease of the unwanted Swansea centre. TS365, under Collette’s guidance, won the support of the LTA, Tennis Wales and the Tennis Foundation. The keys were finally handed over to Collette on 17th June and the centre re-opened next day. She continues to work tirelessly on fund-raising grant applications, staff recruitment, reception work and weekly board meetings.
Performance Coach of the Year: Ellen Jones – UWIC (XL Academy)
Ellen runs a superb programme at UWIC. This year three of her top players have reached the National Talent ID in Roehampton. They were James Story, Joe White and Alex Hamer with James also being picked to represent Great Britain in the U10 team to face Belgium. All three boys were also picked in the top 16 in the country to play in the Summer Nationals. Ellen’s hard work and attention to detail has created a strong performance environment at UWIC and her work within talent ID means there will be plenty of more top players coming from the centre in the future.
Development Coach of the Year: Brian Lee - Llechryd
Brian has worked in the North Pembrokeshire and South Ceredigion areas for the past 40 years and has more recently been instrumental in the creation of the Ceredigion Academy at the U12, U14 and U16 age group. He has worked tirelessly at Llechryd, his own club for the past nine years and has a crop of very strong 12-14 year old players who are accessing the Swansea Tennis Academy thanks to Brian’s coaching. Brian has given much to the game of tennis in the area over the past 40 years, through club coaching, schools work, competition visits and generally going above and beyond what anyone would expect.
Club/Centre of the Year: Mold LTC
Mold runs its remarkable programme from a modest council-owned four-court facility and a local high school. They run 10 Aegon teams, three North Wales teams, four Cheshire league teams and two local Winter teams. They have County representation with 19 players across all the age groups and can boast 150 regularly competing juniors. The programme run by head Coach Vicki Broadbent is superb, with all members catered for. The club has also managed to secure funding for upgrades to facilities from Tennis Wales and the LTA after a visit from chief executive Roger Draper.
Team of the Year: David Lloyd Cardiff U12 Girls Team
The team consisting of Alex Oelman, Rebekah O’Loughlin, Olivia Chivers, Phoebe Cuthbertson-Smith and Grace Lim won the Midlands Premier Division and qualified for the National Finals at Roehampton putting the team in the top four in Great Britain this year. They were the only Welsh team at the finals, and the girls worked hard to defeat well known high-performance centres of Loughborough and Nottingham as well as Warwick University.
Player of the Year: Evan Hoyt (Llanelli)
Just last week, Evan was part of the GB Junior Davis Cup team which won the World Finals in Mexico. This was the first time GB had won this competition. Evan won all his matches including a tough match against the French number 2 in the semi-finals. Also this year Evan made his debut at Wimbledon, winning his first round match and having the opportunity to hit with Rafa Nadael during the championships. His ITF ranking is now 150 (as of 26th September) and he has also this year won titles in Malaysia and Norway as well as being a member of the GB team that one the European Summer Cup.
Local Authority of the Year: Powys (North and South combined)
South Powys has created a new club in Brecon which has also gained Beacon status due to the work the club does with the surrounding areas through coach Chris Hill. The Sports Development department headed up by Matthew James has worked closely with Chris to support tennis in South Powys and has also hosted the inaugural Brecon and Radnor Championships for minis, juniors and adults, which boasted 40 competitors in its first outing.
North Powys has increased the number of registered clubs from three to seven in 2011. The number of regularly competing juniors from the area has also risen from just one to 44. It has also increased the number of schools and teams that attended Aegon competition this year. Under the guidance of Katie Hamer in the North Powys development unit, they have also run teacher training in both primary and secondary schools while also running a leaders course at Coleg Powys.
Outstanding Contribution to Tennis in Wales: Mary Hunter (Swansea)
Mary has dedicated her whole life to tennis. She has run the prestigious Langland Bay event for the past 20 years and has supported Swansea Tennis Centre and the wider community for even longer. She has sat on all committees including Tennis Wales Board, South Wales and County Cup committees. Her expertise is acknowledged as second to none, and the people of Swansea and Welsh tennis as a whole are indebted to her for all her hard work.
Outstanding Achievement Award: Shain Lewis (Builth Wells)
Shain has had the most amazing year. He represented Great Britain in the World Summer Special Olympics games in Athens, Greece and came away with two bronze medals, one in the singles event and the other in the doubles. He also gave the speech in the closing ceremony.
If you would like to receive specific photo's from the event then please email: mark.lewis@tenniswales.org.uk