Tennis club nets £7,000 grant to help youngsters (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Tennis club nets £7,000 grant to help youngsters

Bishop's Castle Tennis Club is this week celebrating receipt of a grant of £7,000 to promote junior tennis coaching.

The money has come from a Government -funded organisation "Local Network for Children and Young People" based in Telford. During the year the Club has run regular coaching sessions on Tuesday evenings that have attracted an average of 20 children of all ages.

Club treasurer Loveday Hickey said she was delighted to hear the good news.

"We want to establish Bishop's Castle as a centre for junior tennis coaching in South Shropshire and part of the money will be set aside to pay for local tennis coaches to be trained.

They will be able to work with the young people at the club and progress further in this field if they want to. We already have three people interested and training will begin in January. If there is anyone else, please get in touch with me on 01588 638389."

As well as the coaching programme, the Tennis Club intends to hold two major events for juniors next year, with fun activities in a large marquee and a tournament with prizes for those who take part. The aim will be to encourage children to get involved with the sport, even if they have not done so before.

"The grant providers have recognised that Bishop's Castle is in a very rural area, with poor transport links. With this in mind we are thinking about a link with Dial-a-Ride to collect children from their homes and bring them to the Tennis Club for coaching sessions," said Loveday.

This idea is in its early stages but we really want to reach out to children and open up tennis to them at an early age." For more information call Club chairman Dave Leopold on 01588620797.