LTA President Cathie Sabin visited Sheffield on Friday 7th November to see some of the great work that has been taking place growing tennis participation in the community. One of the highlights of the day was Cathie’s visit to Sheffield Wednesday FC to hear about the Premier League 4 Sport programme, which has seen tennis sessions introduced at a number of venue’s in the north of Sheffield.
The programme is based on a strong partnership that has been formed between Sheffield Wednesday and the LTA over the last year, and PL4S co-ordinater Matt Bray explained to Cathie that the programme is based at the nearby Hillsborough Park, where a number of tennis sessions now take place. There have also been sessions in Stocksbridge, linked to the tennis club and at Forge Valley School. A successful open day took place at Hillsborough park in May as part of the great British Tennis Weekend, and Sportivate sessions have also been delivered as part of the programme.
The PL4S programme also includes the development of coaches, by enabling them to take a tennis coaching qualification and then gain experience working on the programme. Two such coaches, Helen Shepherd and Dominic Proctor were on hand to describe how much they had benefitted from their involvement in the project and both are now working in community sports roles.