Brand new tennis sessions for children are being launched throughout the Midlands in 2024.
Tennis Kids is offering a distinctive new opportunity for children between 5 and 12 to play matches combined with coaching sessions.
Tennis Kids Georgia Robert said, “At the moment the only tennis available for children is in the freezing cold outside and the sessions provided, parents tell us, do not give enough actual ball hitting time. All our sessions are going to be in warm sports halls, where short tennis is marked out properly, and we’ll be giving advice and instruction, along with the chance for all children, of all abilities, to play matches in a Division of their own standard”.
“Although about 70% of our sign-ups so far have been beginners, we are also catering for children who may have played a bit already at the local club, and will be dividing the kids up into different Divisions so every week they will get the chance to play against somebody of their own standard in an exciting fashion”.
“And with our sessions kids will get four times more ball hitting experience meaning they would improve much more quickly”.
The sessions are being run in sports halls across the Midlands including Leamington, Warwick, Stratford, Rugby, Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull to start off with, with more venues planned later on. All equipment is provided and the sessions cost between £7 and £8.
Georgia said, “One of the innovative things we are doing is that we are not expecting parents to pay termly in advance. A lot of parents have told us that they are not keen on this, particularly because if the child misses a session or two because of holidays or illness, they don’t get that money back. So with us, parents can pay online easily for the sessions that they have, and are not paying for the session they don’t have”.
“Another innovation is that we are playing with sponge balls which means it is much easier, for beginners especially, to get the ball back over the net and rally, and a sponge ball can be hit harder, so it develops the child’s shots better than a standard mini tennis red ball, which can’t be hit too hard”.
As well as prizes and trophies for each Division, there will also be fair play medals and stickers for children who show good sportsmanship or who show improvement or those who just try hard.
Georgia said, “The most important thing with combining matches with some coaching is that we are going to make sure the children that lose a few games don’t get disheartened and we can either quickly move them into a Division which better suits their standard, or we can give them some instructional advice to make sure they can have proper rallies, and we have the option of giving out our FairPlay awards if your child feels bad about losing, to make them feel a bit better”.
“We are also going to be using proper tennis scoring, because we don’t see why they shouldn’t be introduced to it and learn proper tennis scoring from an early age.”
“And finally, our intention is that all children with us become great sports people, have a great time, can play some competition if they want to, can win things, and everybody will leave with a smile on their face, including the parents who for once can watch in a warm environment, rather than having to sit in the car on a cold freezing day!”
To find your nearest Tennis Kids venue please click on www.tenniskids.co.uk
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