Frome Tennis Club is celebrating after three of its men’s teams claimed victory in their respective divisions in the Chippenham and District Tennis League.
Teams A, B, and C were all entered into the league, and following the victories, Team A remains at the top of Division 1. Team B has now been promoted from Division 2 to Division 1, and Team C has been promoted from Division 4 to Division 3.
“This achievement is great for our club because it is a massive success for a small club to be playing at such a high level of tennis,” says development and funding officer Mattias Warner.
The men’s A team also competed in the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) National League and won their play-offs moving from county level to regional level.
Mattias said, “They have now gone into the South West League section, so they will play clubs from Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Bristol next year. At the top end of the LTA National League, you have the top professional UK players competing.
“The national league is an LTA event that any club at any level can enter. When you first enter, you are put into a county level competition. The winners of that go into a play-off against others in the region to qualify for promotion to the regional competition the following year.”
Along with a series of wins for the club, one of their rising stars, Imogen Lines, was recently presented with two awards marking her success and progress in the sport. Mattias said that along with encouraging the community to take up tennis, these success stories were particularly inspiring for juniors.
He said, “We are trying to encourage more of the local community into tennis and expand the club facilities accordingly. With the recent men’s team achievements and Imogen’s awards and success, it is also great inspiration for all our juniors. They are the future of tennis and we believe that needs to be embraced and nurtured.
“We run a Reaching Out Scheme for children from low-income families. Currently, 12 children receive a free lesson a week with funding from both Sport England and S.A.S.P. They also have an LTA Tennis Leadership Course funded as part of that. This qualification is the first step towards becoming a tennis coach and can go on their CV in the future.
“We are also planning to increase the numbers of children to possibly 20 by next year. We currently have six children on a waiting list, so there is definitely a real demand for this opportunity. The Reaching Out Scheme is completely unique to other clubs and our aim to be inclusive and provide tennis for all is our main goal.
“All the achievements by the club help to encourage and inspire up-and-coming junior talent. Imogen is especially inspiring to juniors and regularly helps coach them without head coach Stephen Marcelle and assistant coach Callum Close. These partnerships help to move the club forward and bring out so much talent from our juniors.”
