Our plan in Birmingham aimed to develop five tennis hubs (Central, North, East, South, West) to cover the city. As the plan has progressed, the project has focused on two of these hubs in particular; Yardley tennis hub (East) and Edgbaston tennis hub (Central).
Participation in the Yardley hub has grown by 6.3% since the pilot programme began. This hub includes Yardley Tennis Club, which received LTA and Tennis Foundation funding to develop their facilities; Gilbertstone Park and Archbishop Ilsley Catholic Technical College, which has recently been developed into a Sport England Satellite Club and is a key partner in engaging with young people.
One of the foundations of the Yardley hub has been the introduction of Tennis Freestyle and the Urban Tennis Passport. Tennis Freestyle was created by local coach James Keatley as a way of introducing a new audience to the sport. The emphasis is placed on being able to play without a court, with participants first taught tricks using rackets and balls before learning to rally. See the video for more detail.
Edgbaston tennis hub includes Edgbaston Priory Club; Lordswood Community Tennis Club based at Lordswood School, which is now also a Sport England’s Satellite Club; Queens Park; and Cannon Hill Park. This is an excellent example of a comprehensive tennis network that not only caters for players of all ages, but from beginners to high performance levels. It also responds to those who prefer to choose free and affordable tennis at convenient locations as well as those who prefer to be members of a club.
We’ve taken tennis into 80 community venues via the Tennis Activator programme and trained 155 activators. These volunteers have encouraged well over 1,000 people to participate, and over 50% are still playing once a week.
If you'd like more information or would like to get involved in our Birmingham pilot, please contact our pilot lead Keely Fowler or visit Tennis in Birmingham.