Summer coaching for the juniors at Rye Tennis Club culminated in a week-long ‘camp’ in the week before the August Bank Holiday.
Under the experienced coaching skills of senior coach Frances Candy, assisted by Zoe Richmond-Watson, seven youngsters enjoyed games designed to promote racket, ball and eye co-ordination as well as developing their reactions.
Everyone made such good progress that at the end of the week the children were divided into two teams – Red and Blue – for a team challenge. games were played with an enthusiasm that made for a tight contest with, in the end, the Blue Team just beating the Reds.
The tennis camps are always popular and the next one is scheduled for the half-term break, five days, 1:30pm to 4pm each day from October 28 to November 1. If that is too long to wait, there is also weekly term-time coaching starting September 4 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
In addition to all this, the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association – the tennis governing body in the UK) has introduced a new national coaching scheme for juniors, operated by clubs around the country, including Rye, where the course takes place each week on Thursdays commencing September 5 and runs for 6 weeks, finishing on October 10.
Aimed at 4-11 year-olds, no previous knowledge or equipment is required and each child will receive a racket and ball set and a personalised T-shirt as part of the course. The program has been trialled in other clubs and has been voted a huge success by both those taking part and their parents.
Further information on all the camps and coaching is available from Frances Candy, email, fjcandy@talktalk.net.
Image Credits: Frances Candy , LTA .
It is disingenuous for Rye News to report this without stating the cost per student. The Rye “Lawn” Tennis Club is an expensive venue which is not affordable to many Rye children. The tennis club does not sponsor scholarships for Rye residents nor does it actively encourage or support applications from a wide cross section of Rye residents.
The cost varies according to the nature of the course or lesson, which is why it was not mentioned. However prices for junior coaching are highly competitive with other clubs and, as an example, the LTA-sponsored course, which includes a racket, tennis balls and T-shirt for all children, together with all the lessons, is just £25 – less than the cost of the equipment given to each child. There is a cost associated with all sports as well as many other activities, and while it may be a sad fact of life that there are children whose parents either cannot, or do not wish to afford any activity outside school (and until a government decides to subsidise all sport for children, this will remain the case), there are, nevertheless, a great many others who do take part, not just in tennis, but also many different sports and other activities around Rye. Your final sentence is incorrect: the Club does indeed wish for applications for membership from anyone in or out of Rye who might be interested in tennis, regardless of their ability, and your implication that the ‘old school tie’ rule applies is simply nonsense, as a glance down the membership list would confirm.