Local sports and leisure facilities are so important for communities across the country, to help provide places for people to be active and improve health outcomes in the long term. These are not just places for future stars to play for the first time, they are community spaces where people of all ages and backgrounds can come together, meet people, and enjoy all the physical and mental benefits of being active.
Tennis participation has increased by 40% over the past 12 months and is now above pre-pandemic levels. One in 10 adults and 3.6million children play tennis at least once a year, highlighting the growing appetite for the game across Britain. Local councils see this too and we're really enjoying working with them to break down barriers to participation and help provide more opportunities for people to pick up a racket on local park courts.
Targeting areas where we can open up tennis
An investment of over £30million from the UK Government and the Lawn Tennis Association Foundation is allowing us to transform park tennis. We're delighted to have completed over 1,000 tennis court renovations so far, and it's taken a huge amount of work to get here. Park courts are where many people first pick up a racket and are the most popular venue for women to play after they have left education and are particularly important for engaging people from lower socio-economic communities in tennis.
Back in 2021 we started to work with councils to initially identify existing courts in poor and unplayable condition, which will have the biggest impact on participation, and which will address inequalities in participation by particularly targeting areas of high social deprivation. We used a combination of playing, census, and IMD data to map this out and help us to prioritise funding where it is needed most.
Making courts digitally accessible
For too long, many park tennis courts across Britain have been in a state of disrepair, limiting opportunities for people to pick up a racket and get on court. We are solving this by completing renovating those courts in the worst condition, bringing them back to life for the benefit of local communities.
We're also installing gate access systems to make facilities digitally accessible, with online booking systems making it easy for people to find, book and get on court. Through this system, it will also be easier than ever to register for a tennis session led by a coach or volunteer, or to play competitively, whatever their playing ability.
In newly reopened courts, we're getting some great feedback, such as in Six Bells Park in Blaenau Gwent where 285 hours of bookings were recorded across their two courts in the first six weeks since opening. Through Local Tennis Leagues we have an added option for people who want to play friendly, sociable tennis with a competitive element involved.
Ensuring sustainability long-term
We don't just want these courts to benefit communities for a few years, we want them to stand the test of time. We have been working with local authorities to ensure sinking funds are generated to finance future renovation works in years to come.
Councils are taking differing approaches to this, with some introducing court access fees at certain times in conjunction with free court time. We're also seeing many local authorities appointing local tennis providers to run programmes on the courts, supporting local tennis coaches, and harnessing their passion to get more people playing the game.
Creating a community-led entry route into tennis
Ensuring high-quality, tennis facilities in communities around the country is only half the challenge. To get people back into tennis or to pick up a racket for the first time and get active, we know there is a need to go much further.
One way in which we are planning to do this is through Free Park Tennis, a new initiative which we hope may develop into our sport's equivalent to Parkrun. These will be weekly free community-run sessions for players of any age or ability delivered by local volunteers on weekends with equipment provided.
Sessions will be open for anyone, whether it's a family with young children or an individual who doesn't have a playing partner. We're starting to work with local authorities to begin to recruit ‘activators' – local volunteers who want to support great weekly experiences for people in their area through Free Park Tennis.
Whilst there is still much to do, everyone at the LTA is very excited about the transformation of parks tennis that is underway, and that we are working hard to ensure there are more ways than ever for people pick up a racket, get active, and enjoy all the physical and mental health benefits that our sport provides.
Julie Porter is LTA chief operating officer
