The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced that recruitment for their biggest ever grass roots kids initiative, following Great Britain’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas win, is complete. 1,000 experienced and passionate coaches have been successfully recruited and are now poised to deliver the Tennis for Kids in partnership with Highland Spring initiative.
Training for the 1,000 coaches began on the 29th February and in addition, the LTA has signed up world renowned figures from British Tennis including Davis Cup Captain, Leon Smith, Former Female British No.1 players, Annabel Croft and Anne Keothavong, and Former Male British No. 1, Greg Rusedski, to help with the training and support of the 1,000 coaches.
Tennis for Kids aims to inspire 10,000 children aged 5-8 to pick up a racket and play tennis for the first time and will aim to create accessibility into tennis and a new generation of tennis loving children with a passion to get active and hydrate healthily.
Tennis for Kids will offer a free six-week course led by one of the 1,000 coaches recruited, and 10,000 free rackets to children across the whole of Great Britain. To join the initiative, parents can simply sign their kids up online from April, when further information will be released.
At the heart of the initiative is a commitment to encourage and inspire young people and their parents to take part in a sport that is sociable, accessible and affordable and can also be enjoyed throughout their lifetime.
Leon Smith, Davis Cup Captain, comments: “Bringing the Davis Cup trophy home last year was a massive achievement for Great Britain – I want to be able to use this historic moment to inspire our coaches and support them as we continue to grow the love for our game across many generations in Great Britain.”
Annabel Croft, Former British No.1, comments:“I’ve been playing tennis for decades andTennis for Kids is a very exciting initiative to work with some our most enthusiastic and talented coaches to encourage more young people to play. Tennis is such a great sport whether you’re playing competitively or not and look forward to supporting this great campaign”
Alastair Marks, Participation Director, LTA, adds: “Being able to deliver a national campaign that offers so many of our coaches, past players and Davis Cup heroes the chance to inspire children into our sport after our momentous Davis Cup win last year is very important. The Tennis for Kids initiative is an absolute priority for the LTA to encourage families to put tennis front of mind and see it as a fun and healthy sport that everyone can enjoy.”
