Festival of Tennis: game, set and match for Save the Children!

Written by Jess Bryant, Community Events Team Intern, Save the Children

Last weekend we held our fourth Save the Children Festival of Tennis at the National Tennis Centre in south-west London, the home of British Tennis.

It was a fun-filled weekend, celebrating another year of great fundraising and exciting tennis for all ages and abilities.

This year, 55 schools, tennis clubs, supporter groups and other communities across the UK have taken part in 107 Tennis Cup events which have raised an incredible £72,000.

A massive thank you

We know how much time and effort it takes from coaches, players, teachers, parents, friends and other helpers to make all these events happen and it was great to meet you on Sunday, personally say THANK YOU and cheer on our finalists.

There was a real community buzz about the day and our volunteers organising the event worked exceptionally hard to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.

Moira and Cherry enjoyed meeting and greeting players and guests on reception, our ball girls from Lady Eleanor Holles and ball boys from Claygate Tennis Club were very professional on court and revelled in the experience, and Alan did a fantastic job on the decks making sure the music was always on cue.

And we can’t forget Roger Marsden entertaining us with his amazing magic tricks (I’m still trying to work out how those dice ended up in the fez hat!).

Meeting the stars

We had the pleasure of being treated to a demonstration of wheelchair tennis by Andy Lapthorne, Paralympic silver medallist, Jordanne Whiley, Paralympic bronze medallist and the London 2012 Team Leader of Wheelchair Tennis Paul Regan.

Other activities on the day included a ‘cardio blast’ and ‘coaching clinics’ with the Annabel Croft Academy, which was a great opportunity for all to get stuck in and enjoy tennis on the day.

A very proud day

Roger Draper, Chief Executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, which runs British Tennis, said, “We are growing participation in the sport, which is why events like this, organised by Save the Children, are so important.”

We’re all extremely proud of everyone who participated in this event, the talent among the players was incredible.

After coming back from a deficit in the tie break, Sophie and Tilly, winners of the girl’s final, said they had been both nervous and excited as they came through to win and it had been a really good experience.

We hope to see you all again next year!

If you’d like to receive information about the Save the Children Tennis Cup 2013, email tennis@savethechildren.org.uk quoting “community tennis 2013 information” and we’ll send you all the details when they are available.