A step closer for Judy Murray’s community tennis club?
With the LTA announcing a commitment of £5 million of funding towards a flagship tennis and sports centre at Park of Keir near Dunblane, Judy Murray’s dream becomes a step closer.
The project plans to deliver a multi-sport site which features outdoor and indoor tennis courts, outdoor padel courts, pickleball courts, a multisport hall, multi-use games area, gym, and café.
The facility is hoped to become Scotland’s flagship tennis venue, which will act as a home for competition and player training, alongside Judy’s programme to encourage greater participation in sport and build a workforce of community coaches. The centre will also recognise the many achievements of the Murray family and their contribution to tennis in Scotland and Britain.
LTA’s funding forms part of its ongoing commitment to invest in Scottish tennis and comes subject to the project receiving all the necessary planning approvals from Stirling Council. Judy Murray OBE said, “I’m delighted that the LTA has committed £5 million of funding and support to the centre at Dunblane. This is a huge investment in Scottish tennis and community sport.
“I’ve been working closely with Scott Lloyd and the LTA over several years to bring the plans to fruition and we will continue to work in partnership to deliver a legacy for Scotland. We’re now hopeful that our other partners will commit their support to this important and exciting project, and to invest in other community tennis facilities across the UK.”
Scott Lloyd, chief executive of the LTA, added, “Judy and her family have made an enormous contribution to tennis in Scotland and across Britain. We’re proud to be supporting this project which will deliver both a tennis centre of national significance for Scotland, but also an important community facility for the people of Scotland. As Andy reaches the final stages of his playing career there are many ways in which British tennis will recognise his achievements and that of his family, but we believe this project will deliver a landmark facility for Dunblane and Scotland that will benefit, as part of Andy’s legacy, generations to come.”
Courtesy ‘Project Scotland’ 21 July
Brett Watson
The TIA UK Board was saddened to hear the passing this month of Brett Watson, the TIA UK’s first full time Executive Director.
Following a historic Partnership Agreement with the LTA in March 2012, Brett based himself at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton and took up his duties in May of that year. He worked diligently to develop a working relationship with the LTA which has grown over the years into a close partnership benefitting British tennis.
Prior to his TIA appointment, Brett had a wide variety of commercial roles, including founding his own tennis coaching and equipment sales business in the Cotswolds. He worked for KCOM plc as PFI Business Manager and then Partnership Director. He also worked with the Managed Services Division at Logicalis.
A staunch life-long tennis enthusiast, Brett was Chairman of the Tetbury Dolphins Tennis Club in Gloucestershire where he became responsible for the overall running and direction of the club. Approachable and affable, Brett proved himself to be an excellent ambassador for the tennis industry.
AELTC Community Tennis Centre opens clubhouse
The AELTC has recently added a new high quality clubhouse to complement the impressive facilities at its Community Tennis Centre (CTC) in Raynes Park, south London.
This new addition marks the culmination of a 5 year construction project of developing the site.
Since 2019, 16 Championship specification grass courts have been constructed, together with an additional 3-court dome, sports pitches, a maintenance building and the new Clubhouse. This new investment has resulted in the Community Tennis Centre being adopted as an official practice venue for The Championships, supporting grass court practice for professional players.
The CTC is a Pay & Play centre open to the public and has nine acrylic hard courts, six of which are indoors inside airdomes, and 16 grass courts which open to the public after the Wimbledon Championships. The centre runs adult and junior coaching courses, drop-in Pay & Play sessions and junior camps during school holidays.
The centre is also the home of the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative coaching programme and hosts the Wimbledon Ball Boys & Ball Girls training in the lead up to The Championships.
Annual General Meeting
The AGM was held at the National Tennis Centre on July 4th. Reflecting on activity over 12 months to the end of January 2024, Chairman Steve Matthews reported that British tennis had continued to grow both in terms of participation and investment and of the significant impact of Padel. It was anticipated that there would be some 1000 Padel courts by the end of the year.
Rob McCowan reported that income was slightly up from the previous year and that the association was in a relatively healthy position with reserves of £34,000. He stated that the Board wanted to achieve a small surplus after each year’s activities whilst at the same time hopefully provide a subsidy for TIA events wherever possible.
Four Directors were re-elected for a further year – Andy Burrell (Chiltern Sports Contractors), Justin Kraushar (Yonex), Sarah Langford (Virtus Leisure Management) and Rob McCowan (Sporting Insights) and Louise Price (Price of Bath) was elected as a new Director.
It was agreed that the fees for the next Membership year (Feb 2025 to Jan 2026) would be held at the current level.
Following the AGM, Sasha Badrock, LTA Coach and Accreditation Manager, gave a presentation on coaches and coach education, highlighting a number of key issues and challenges and LTA strategy to increase the percentage of female accredited coaches and improve coaches’ business skills.
Wimbledon 2024 – courtesy AELTC / IBM
