The LTA’s National Head of Participation, Alastair Marks, met Club officials on 15th June at Prestwich to discuss how the LTA can work with voluntary clubs like Prestwich to increase participation in the sport.
Alastair has a very busy schedule so the Club was delighted to be able to secure time with such a senior figure in the organisation. Alastair impressed those present with his knowledge of tennis and sport in general, having previously worked with the RFU and ECB. He was frank about the challenges facing participation in tennis and all sports but is also willing to work with local clubs to exploit the opportunities clubs like Prestwich have to get more people to play tennis and more regularly.
Club Chairman, Brian Lorenzini, gave a background to the Club’s development over the past 25 years, from when our facilities consisted of an old wooden clubhouse, tennis courts in poor repair and general club environment in need of investment.
Brian commented that a strength of the Club was as a multi-sport venue with football also being played at the Club and other sports such as athletics also using our facilities. He stressed that we have always looked to generate enough income to cover running costs but looked to the support of funding organisations such as Sport England the ECB and the LTA to assist the expansion and improvement of our facilities.
Tennis Chairman, Alan Millington, commented that we now had a real window of opportunity to increase participation in tennis at Prestwich. He added that we have the benefit of an experienced and enthusiastic coach in Paul Jepson and want to work with the LTA to produce an Action Plan that will enable Paul to offer more and more regular coaching sessions at the Club and in the local community.
The Club will be replacing the artificial grass courts this autumn with new astro turf – with half the cost coming from an LTA interest free loan but we would hope to be able to attract capital support for any further improvements and expansion of our facilities.
After a buffet lunch, Alastair was given a short tour of the Club’s facilities before having to leave to another appointment in Merseyside.
Alastair is pictured above next to Gill Boyle (Tennis membership secretary), Sam Foakes from the LTA. Standing are Joanne O’Hanlon (junior secretary). Paul Jepson (club coach) and club chairman, Brian Lorenzini.
