The annual Tennis Wales awards have recognised the people and organisations that have contributed most to the sport during the past year.
The winners include players, volunteers, coaches, clubs and centres, as well as local authorities.
The awards were presented by Ken Skates, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sport, and Tourism in the Welsh Government; Cathie Sabin, President of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA); and Jon Morgan, Executive Director of Disability Sport Wales, in a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Arfon Haines Davies, at the St David’s Park Hotel in Ewloe, Flintshire on Saturday night (January 24).
“The awards recognise our most talented and dedicated people – on and off the court, especially those who make it possible for thousands to enjoy tennis in Wales every week,” said Tennis Wales chief executive Peter Drew.
“The past year has seen continuing huge growth in tennis at primary schools across Wales, club membership increasing steadily, and adult tennis participation in Wales rising from 27,000 to 45,000,” he added.
“Tennis is now becoming one of the most popular sports to play in Wales, and at the elite end of the sport, we’ve had two players from Wales winning titles on the ATP (association of Tennis Professionals) tour, juniors winning British national titles, Welsh players winning finals of ITF (International Tennis Federation) junior tournaments, and County teams right at the very top of County Cup. Currently we have 11 juniors from Wales in the top 10 rankings for their age group on the British Winter National Tour, so things are certainly looking very bright for the future of Welsh tennis.”
Winners were:
Local authority of the year – Flintshire County Council.The Sports Development team in Flintshire has helped set up a new club, delivered tennis training to schools, and heavily supported Tennis Wales’ Great British Tennis Weekends in 2014. The team is also helping to grow the workforce by supporting the development of Tennis Leaders and Level 1 coaches.
Volunteer of the Year – Paul Daley (Mackintosh Tennis Club, Cardiff) Known as “Mr Mackintosh” for years, Paul has continued to manage the development of the new building at the Mackintosh club in Cardiff, managed the club steward and co-managed the final funding application for two new courts.
Inspire 2 Coach Young Volunteer - Frances Louise Smith (ArfonTennis Centre, Caernarfon)Through her work experience week and voluntary work shifts, Frances has completed over 200 hours of voluntary work experience for the centre. She has assisted on open days, wheelchair tennis sessions, and special sessions for organisations such as Whizz Kids and the Women’s Institute, delivering sessions that often have to be adapted to suit the particular needs of that person, particularly in the field of disability inclusion.
Performance Coach - Becca Strelzyn (David Lloyd, Cardiff) Becca has continued to be instrumental in driving the U12 performance programme at David Lloyd Cardiff forward. Two of her key players who have begun to make their mark at GB level during 2014 are Shay Ryan and Hugo Russell, who both won several national tournaments, while Shay was picked to represent GB against France.
Development Coach – Rhys Morgan (Mackintosh LTC, Cardiff) Rhys has organised and encouraged all of the teams, and continued developing a full tennis programme including CardioTennis and social tennis. His work has seen the number of Mini Red children on weekly coaching programmes triple in 2014 with 76 children attending once a week. Over the last year he has seen over 200 children at tennis camps, and he has created a coaching team of assistant coaches and Tennis Leaders.
Club or Centre - Radyr LTC Radyr celebrated its centenary in 2014 and ended the year with a membership of 491, and junior membership at an all-time high, with 201 children receiving coaching. Two boys won through to the third round of the “Road to Wimbledon” competition, and the club enjoyed success in the Courtstall Summer Doubles Leagues with the Men’s 2nd team being promoted for the second successive year, winning all of their 10 matches.
Club team - Cardiff Ladies 3rd Team During the summer season of 2014 the team finished runners up in Premier Two, gaining promotion to Premier One Division. This is the seventh consecutive year they have been promoted. They managed a further notable success in that they have now overtaken their club’s second team, beating them during both fixtures.
Team - North Wales U12 Girls Team The team reached the National Finals for the first time in this age group. They lost to tough teams from Lancashire and eventual winners Sussex before beating Hertfordshire 8-0 in the final group match to set up a 5th and 6th place play-off with Yorkshire where the girls lost out on a match tie-break and took 6th place.
Player – Josh Milton (Cardiff) Josh improved his world ranking in 2014 to 360, winning the $15k Dublin and Manchester Futures events and reaching the semi-finals in Wrexham, Shrewsbury and London. Josh also won through to the Wimbledon qualifying draw and was undefeated in singles in the Aegon Team Tennis Finals for Cardiff Macintosh.
Outstanding Contribution to tennis in Wales - David Clarke (Penarth Windsor TC) During 30 years at the Windsor club, David has been a member of the committee for most of the time and has been chairman, membership secretary, men’s captain and during the last few years, treasurer. He has been instrumental in driving forward key projects which have a significantly enhanced and developed the status of the club. He has also worked hard beyond the club, and was Tennis Wales’ first chairman of the board of directors.
Tennis Wales would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists on their achievements, the panel found picking the winners extremely difficult this year due to the high calibre of nominations. We also thank everyone who attended the event and hope you enjoyed your evening.
Some Photos of the evening
All Winners
North Wales U12 Players
Chris Lewis
General decoration
Arfon Haines-Davies
Jon Morgan - Disability Sport Wales
Cathie Sabin, LTA
Ken Skates, Deputy Minister
North Wales U12 girls
Peter Drew and Pam Griffiths, presented with Insport Bronze Award
Matt Hayes, Flintshire winner Local Authority
Kath Mutter, on behalf of Paul Daley, winner Volunteer. With Cathie Sabin
Tables Set up
Frances Louise Smith, winner Inspire2Coach Young volunteer. With Ken Skates
Becca Strelzyn, winner Performance Coach. With Simon Jones, LTA.
Rhys Morgan, winner Development Coach. With Jon Morgan, DSW.
Katrina Clarke, Radyr Lawn Tennis Club, winner Club/Centre. With Graham Williams, Sport Wales.
Cardiff Castle Ladies 3rd Team, winner Club Team. With Cathie Sabin.
North Wales, U12 Girls Team, winner of Team. With Graham Williams.
Chris Lewis, on behalf of Josh Milton, winner Player. With Simon Jones
David Clarke, winner of Outstanding Contribution. With Mary Hunter, President of Tennis Wales.
Tennis Wales Team.