The British Tennis Coaches Association is the independent professional body for tennis coaches in the UK.
The yearly membership fee to join the organisation starts at just £25 with the Bronze level membership and is open to everyone, with benefits such as a subscription to UK Tennis Magazine, access to the BTCA Memberzone, along with discounts from selected suppliers.
The Silver level membership is for coaches only, and has all the benefits of Bronze membership. Additionally this membership allows access to BTCA events and courses, but more importantly, the two day BTCA National Conference, which counts for 12 CPD credits. Coaches with a recognised coaching qualification, including the LTA, PTR, RPT and ITA, are eligible to join, as well as any foreign coach with a recognised qualification from their home federation.
The Gold and Platinum Membership packages are also only available to coaches, and include £10 Million Public & Employers Liability Coaching Insurance, as well as free access to ‘Shotpage’, digital coaching & analysis software. Any tier membership to the organisation also provides professional, career and business advice, a legal helpline, official representation, industry and qualification recognition, networking, workshops and forums.
The BTCA additionally offers Corporate Membership with its UK Tennis Magazine partnership for businesses and companies within the tennis industry.
Royston Kymberly is the National Manager of BTCA. The CEO and founder of The International Tennis Academy UK, Head of Elite Academy UK, and also Executive Editor of UK Tennis Magazine, Royston has been involved in tennis coaching for over 20 years and has worked with players from all levels of the game. He is LTA, RPT, MTCA and Bollettieri Academy qualified and also has extensive experience in IT and Business Management Training as well as being a qualified Tai Chi Instructor and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Consultant. Royston has also worked as a consultant to the Gaming Industry and was instrumental in the introduction of many Western Casino Operations into Asia & Eastern Europe.
The Chairman of the association is Paul Braithwaite, an LTA Senior Coach, who has been an active member of BTCA for over 25 years and has worked alongside the Board for much of that time. Very much a ‘people person’, Paul specializes in guidance and mentoring services and currently holds a diploma in youth and community work while coaching at Shambrook Tennis Club in Bedfordshire.
Other BTCA Board members include Mike Lipschitz and Mark Furness.