By Tim Parsons-
A renovation revolution is coming to tennis courts across the country in a bid to open the sport up to as many people as possible.
The LTA have invested £8m, supported by a further £22m from government, to try and rejuvenate the country’s tennis courts.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
The project is part of an overall focus by the LTA to grow participation throughout the nation, something that is a key aim for CEO Scott Lloyd.
He said: “It’s about making the sport as accessible as possible to anyone that has an interest in it, whether you’re a fan, whether you’re a volunteer or whether hopefully you’re picking up a racket and playing as well.
“We are blessed with a very good court stock and park facilities across the country, the problem is a lot of those courts have fallen into disrepair over the years.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
“Towards the end of last year, we were delighted that the government backed our own LTA investment into bringing some 2,000 park courts across the country back into sustainable use.
“The LTA have invested £8m and the government have supported with a further 22 and that investment will see every park facility across the country reviewed and invested in to bring those courts back into use.”
Alongside revamping facilities, the LTA is also focusing on widening access to the sport through its LTA Youth programme.
The scheme will open up tennis to schoolchildren across the country so young people can access the wide-ranging benefits of playing the sport.
Tennis provides physical and mental health benefits to participants, who can be of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities and Lloyd wants to ensure everyone is able to reap the rewards.
“Last year we launched an overarching children’s tennis programme called LTA Youth and the prime factors for that is to try to take LTA youth content into schools across the country,” added Lloyd.
“We’ve now got over 10,000 schools registered for LTA Youth, we’ve trained 7,000 teachers already to deliver tennis in the school environment.
“Not necessarily on tennis courts, sometimes in the playground or the classroom or the school halls – but that is going to hopefully broaden the base of our sport.
“That same content is going out to the Girl Guides and the Scouts which is opening tennis up to hundreds of thousands of more kids.”
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar