By Daryl Hardy
THURROCK Lawn Tennis Club’s head coach, Terry Morgan, expects their new project to significantly boost the participation of adults and children playing and enjoying tennis in the community.
The club, located in Grays, is set to partner with St Clere’s school in Stanford Le Hope in order to provide its members with bigger and better facilities.
“The project we are doing with the school will come to a total of £230,000. We’re getting four new courts; moving the trees, putting up fencing, lighting and getting two of the courts covered,” said Morgan.
“So, come rain or snow, the lessons and league matches will be able to go ahead without the weather causing havoc.”
Although some additional funding is still required, Morgan is certain the project is worth every penny if it raises awareness in the community and gets more children playing and keeping fit.
“Fitness is a big factor in developing tennis players, especially with kids. You find it’s very hard to motivate them because they are spending so much time in front of computers and playing video games.
“As soon as you say fitness they are thinking that they don’t want to do this. But if you incorporate it in to something fun they don’t realise that they’re getting fit because they are enjoying what they are doing rather than seeing it as a chore.”
By partnering with the school, Thurrock LTC will gain 300-400 pupils that will be playing all year round. A significant improvement on their current amount of members and Morgan is optimistic at the prospect of getting more girls participating.
“We’re trying to encourage girls to take up the sport and hopefully that will be a plus point of partnering up with the school.
“The club do struggle with ladies for some reason. My wife’s captain of the ladies team and it can be frustrating for her, we have got some very good ladies playing for the club but if one or two get injured then she is really struggling to find decent players to come in and cover.”
Thurrock LTC will be hoping that this project gets the additional funding it needs, as it will provide huge benefits for everyone involved.
Often during the winter months the club loses its members as they opt to train at indoor facilities such as Virgin Active or David Lloyd, where the weather conditions can’t prevent them from playing.
This is a big factor in ensuring two of the courts get covered and the reason Morgan is adamant about securing the extra funding.
“The club lose out with good players during the winter. But if this project gets done and dusted then more will start coming and staying with us. It’s a cheaper option than going to David Lloyd just to play tennis.”
The project will be a big hit among tennis fans in the community and will hopefully help to create a whole new batch of young, promising players.
A full years membership with the club is currently £150 for adults and £40 for juniors, or you can pay a guest fee of £4 per visit.
