The Junior Tennis Leaders Awards course was developed by the LTA to introduce and encourage more youngsters into getting more involved at their tennis clubs and is seen as the first step on a pathway towards a career in sport and more specifically in tennis.   It is aimed at 13 to 16 Year olds with an interest in tennis and sport.

There are 4 modules which are intended to give the attendees some new skills and experience are:

Module 1 – Planning, Organisation and Communication

Understand the importance of planning

Recognise and be able to use effective communication skills

Understand the of good organisation on and off court

Put the skills into practice on court

Module 2 – Club Media and Communications

Under why media and communication are important to the clubs development

Be able to assist with/be responsible for media and communication tasks at the club

Module 3 – Playing Partner/Buddy Hitting

Know the attributes of a good buddy hitter

Know how to feed appropriately

Understand the 5 game situations

Learn how to feed in game based situations

Module 4 – Competition Assistant

Understand why competition is important

Be able to assist at a competition

6 teenagers from the Avenue Tennis Club took part and completed the English Lawn Tennis Association’s Junior Tennis Leaders Award.  The junior tennis players, most from King Alfred’s, spent 3 Sundays and 1 Saturday evening taking part in 4 modules developed by the LTA.

Head coach, Vinny Duddy, ran the course and thought that all the juniors put in a lot of effort, concentration and personal time to take the course and was particularly pleased that 5 of 6 came from the Avenue’s own Tennis Academy.  As well as doing the 4 modules the  juniors are also expected to complete a minimum 18 hours volunteering in last 3 modules above.  Vinny gave them some specific tasks for the Club Media and Communcations module and some excerts are shown in this article.  They have been assisting the coaching staff with the weekday squad and weekend pay and play coaching (something all of them are finding very rewarding and great fun).  For the last module the group decided to run a Junior Tennis Competition for 11 to 16 year olds at the Avenue.  Now that they have completed their tasks they will be allowed to assist with the coaching at the tennis club, under the guidance of the coaches, and will charge for their time within the following guidelines.

Jessica Griffiths, Heather Duddy, Sam Stead, Robert Horler, Alex Stead and Rhiannon Parson (aleady approved as a Club hitter) have been given permission to offer their services as Buddy Hitters provided the undermentioned conditions are met and adhered to:

Buddy Hitters will only be able to offer this service to

1.  Fully paid up members of the Avenue Tennis Club
2. Junior players on a club coaching programme
3. Have the players coach’s approval and assistance

Parents will be expected to

1. Ensure their children act in a proper and respectful way during their time on court and that they arrive and leave on times as agreed
2. Make a payment of at least £3 per hour to the Buddy Hitter on the day straight after the session has finished

Coaches will be expected to

1.  Ensure that the Buddy Hitter is aware of what the player should be working on and have agreed it with the buddy hitter and player

Any problems should be taken up with the Head Coach

Following the success of this course Head Coach Vinny Duddy is planning to organise another course in Autumn and is expecting to have a further 12 juniors which will include some youngsters from Wellington Tennis Club where he coaches on a Saturday; if you wish to attend the course please contact him at the tennis club (01278 782758).

The Avenue Tennis Club will be holding its Annual Open Day on Sunday 4^th July 2010 starting at 10:30.  A new membership deal will be available to all during the month of July which will include 3 FREE Group coaching sessions and 9 months membership for the price of 6.

The day will start with FREE coaching for all juniors and adults from 10:30 till 12:30.  At 12:30 visitors and members will be able to either continue playing tennis on courts 5 – 8 or to watch the Somerset Closed Men’s Tennis Final live on Court 2 next to the club house.

During the day exhibitors from Tony Pryce Sports and Prince Rackets will be available to demonstrate and advise on new tennis rackets and sports wear.  There will be Strawberries and Cream, Pimms, hot and cold food and the Avenue’s well stocked bar will be open to all throughout.

The Final of the Wimbledon Men’s Final will be shown on the large screen in the clubhouse and all are welcome to attend this.

Details of these events and tennis coaching courses held at the Avenue Tennis Club can be obtained from the office (01278 782758) or from the club website (www.avenuetennis.com).