The University of Sheffield Tennis Club wins prestigious LTA award after huge growth in membership

The University of Sheffield Tennis Club has bagged a prestigious LTA award after a huge growth in membership and participation.
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The student volunteer-led club currently has 300 members, double the previous record, and a boom in membership has seen the formation of two men’s and one women’s development squads.

Professional coaching is now offered to social members, and the amount of available weekly court hours has increased by 130 per cent.

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The club was announced as the winner by tennis players and doubles pairing Olivia Nichols and Alicia Barnet at a live-streamed awards ceremony presented by LTA president David Rawlinson and hosted by the LTA’s head of men’s tennis, Leon Smith.

The University of Sheffield Tennis Club has bagged a prestigious LTA award after a huge growth in membership and participationThe University of Sheffield Tennis Club has bagged a prestigious LTA award after a huge growth in membership and participation
The University of Sheffield Tennis Club has bagged a prestigious LTA award after a huge growth in membership and participation
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Club captain Jacob Bates said: “Having this recognised at a national level is pretty crazy because when we first started, we never thought we would be where we are at the moment.

“At university a lot of sports focus on the competitive side of things so a lot of clubs will have four for five competitive teams, so we have had to grow our social side in order to grow as a club.

“It would be great to see a lot of other sports grow their social sides, be a bit more inclusive and allow people to get involved with sport at a more relaxed level.”

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The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their seventh year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.

The University of Sheffield was hand-picked as one of 17 national winners recognised at the awards ceremony last Thursday, which honoured individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county, regional and national level.

Nominations were drawn from over 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and over 9,000 LTA approved tournaments, with the university also recognised for how it welcomes new members.

Mr Bates added: “We were up against some really big universities that are pretty big for sport in Exeter and Birmingham, so being at the same level as them and winning the award over them was amazing.

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“It was actually just great to have our work recognised, there are only two tennis courts owned by the university, but we have put so much work into the club and growing it.

“For it to be recognised was pretty huge.”

The club introduced the ‘family’ programme, which sees experienced members help newer members settle into the club and form friendships within the tennis community.

The quality and quantity of the nominations demonstrate outstanding work that has been done in tennis through the pandemic and Mr Rawlinson said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.

“They acknowledge the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.

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“The outstanding contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting and I would like to thank them for their fantastic work.”

To find out more information about the LTA Tennis Awards, or for information on how to play, coach, volunteer or officiate in tennis, head to https://www.lta.org.uk/.

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