Tennis playing children from Merton will grace the courts at the Wimbledon Championships again this summer.
By Chris Madden
Tennis playing children from Merton will grace the courts at the Wimbledon Championships again this summer.
The members of the Wimbledon Youth Tennis Initiative will play on the middle Saturday and final Sunday. The Initiative offers free tennis coaching to some children in the Merton area.
“The amount of kids that we have had an opportunity to influence is just great,” said All England Club head coach Dan Bloxham, who runs the Initiative.
“The club is very aware that no event is bigger than the community it sits in.”
The children will do demonstrations both days on court 14 for the public, the first alongside Tim Henman.
The Initiative has given the AEC links with local schools and it is considered a partner in Wimbledon and Wandsworth’s sports programmes.
One 12-year-old girl from the Initiative has just won a European event in Rome.
“The biggest thing is that we are not just a PR move,” said Mr Bloxham.
“Kids walk through the gate at the AEC and they play at the AEC.”
The Initiative gives local children the chance to develop professional habits and meet current players
“Of course you always dream that you are nurturing a champion,” said Clive Thornicroft, whose daughter attends the scheme.
“It’s a great chance for the kids.”
The Initiative is a community scheme run by the All England Club.
They visit all schools in the Merton area to give a tennis lesson and offer some children the chance to join the scheme.
The children invited play one to two hours on a Saturday, with the best playing more with the squad and performance groups.
Mr Bloxham says they try to encourage good attitudes in the children, giving them the tools to achieve in and out of tennis.
“They all want to be the X-Factor,” Mr Bloxham said.
“Here it is a level field for every child who steps through the gate. It is up to them to achieve what they want to achieve.”
The Initiative’s members are the only people to play at the AEC in colours.
The group meets every Saturday and Sunday, 48 weeks of the year.
