3:26pm Tuesday 7th July 2009
With Wimbledon just finished, Pembrokeshire’s tennis scene is gearing up to meet increased interest in the sport.
Sport Pembrokeshire is providing new after-school junior classes at Tenby, Pembroke and St Davids.
Funding from the Sports Council for Wales and local sponsor, Chevron, supports the initiative.
Junior classes already take place at Haverfordwest and Fishguard tennis clubs on Monday evenings The popular Chevron sponsored, junior county squads for ‘performance-standard’ junior players, take place on Tuesday evenings at Sir Thomas Picton School.
With the support of Sport Pembrokeshire, local tennis clubs will also be hosting summer tennis camps at Fishguard, Haverfordwest and Narberth, after Wimbledon fortnight, in a bid to inspire new players.
Councillor Rob Lewis, cabinet member responsible for sport said that tennis was a popular sport that had suffered from an elitist image in the past.
“We are determined to open the sport up to all,” he said.
“Every year, Wimbledon inspires more youngsters to get out on our public courts and have a go. The key is to translate this summer enthusiasm into the development of local grassroots tennis clubs that is accessible to all,” he added.
Meanwhile, this year’s county junior tennis tournament has also been brought forward to the week following Wimbledon.
The tournament is hosted by Haverfordwest Tennis Club and has attracted a record 67 entries.
It started with the mini orange (under-9) and mini green (under-11) competitions, on the weekend of July 4th and 5th.
The under-18, under-16, under-14 and under-12 players will compete throughout the week of July 6th to 10th and the finals will be on Saturday, July 11th.
For more information about these camps and other tennis initiatives, contact Sport Pembrokeshire on 01437 776188.
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