LTA President Cathie Sabin was very encouraged with a range of projects that have been implemented to grow participation in tennis in Sheffield, on a visit to the city on Wednesday 5th October. Her visit culminated in representing the LTA at the official opening of the new £16 million redeveloped Graves Health and Sport Centre in the afternoon, where the ribbon cutting was performed by Lord Sebastian Coe.
The visit started with a trip to Weston Park in the morning, where she met Paul Billington, the Director of Culture at Sheffield City Council. The LTA has been working in partnership with Sheffield City Council over the last 2 years to revitalise parks tennis in the city. Weston Park has seen the tennis courts deep cleaned and repainted this year, as well as trailing a new access gate linked to the online court booking system.
Sheffield City Council and the LTA are working hard on putting in place a long term solution that will safeguard the future of parks tennis in Sheffield and see an on- going programme of maintenance and investment, alongside delivery of tennis programmes. Cathie was very encouraged with the vision and strength of the partnership work that has taken place and recognised the importance of the project nationally in developing a long term solution for parks tennis.
The tour then moved on to Fulwood LTC, where Cathie met Head Coach and Club Director Jonathan Wragg, as well as Martin Fuller and John Rodger from the club. Fulwood have enjoyed a significant growth in membership at the tennis club over recent years and have enjoyed success on court, winning the first division of the Sheffield & District league for the first time this year. Cathie chatted with pupils from Birkdale Preparatory school who were having a coaching session at the club, as well as trying out the new Clubspark booking console which Fulwood have been one of the first clubs to install this year. The club also has plans to improve its facilities over the coming year and Cathie was impressed with the progress that has been made growing tennis at the club.
From there the next stop was Beauchief TC, where Cathie met club chairman Chris Muscroft and vice chair Sarah Everest, alongside other members of the committee. Beauchief have recently completed the installation of a practice wall at the club and will shortly start work installing floodlight on 3 further courts following a grant from Sport England. The new facilities will allow the club to increase tennis during the winter months. Cathie chatted with club officials before having an impromptu question and answer session with pupils from Greenhill Primary School who were having a lesson at the club.
The final visit of the day was to the new Graves Health and Sport Centre for the official opening of the new facility. Before the opening activities commenced, Cathie sat down with Sports Manager Alasdair Ford and Head Coach Sam Salt to hear how they have developed tennis at the centre over the last year. Following this the invited dignitaries from all the key partners in the project gathered and there were a number of speeches to mark the official opening of the centre. Cathie spoke of how Sheffield was contributing strongly to the vision for British Tennis to enrich lives through tennis.
The plaque unveiling then took place by IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe, who grew in Sheffield. Lord Coe spoke of how Sheffield was grasping the opportunity for sporting legacy through investment in the centre at Graves and the fantastic opportunities it would provide for the local community.
Cathie was accompanied on her visit by Paul Sheard, LTA Regional Tennis Participation Manager and Bob Lamb, President of Yorkshire Tennis. Paul commented “Cathie was hugely encouraged by the range of projects she saw on her visit to Sheffield. The city has seen significant investment over the last 2 years from developing public facilities at Graves and in the parks to improvements at key clubs, and is at the forefront of the drive to increase participation in tennis”.