2017 is all set to be an exciting year for tennis across East Lothian.
First of all, there has been a massive growth in membership across East Lothian clubs. Figures provided by East Linton, Haddington, Longniddry, Musselburgh and Tranent show that membership at each of these clubs, has more than doubled since 2013. This is thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with our clubs and also to the excellent facilities we now have available to us across the region.
There are various LTA initiatives available for clubs in East Lothian to become involved with.
The Great British tennis weekend is back for 2017, the dates are the 13th/14th of May and the 22nd and 23rd of July. Venues and coaches can now publish their events online and will be provided with a resource pack to help run the event. Online entry for Aegon Team tennis, a singles based competition, from ages 8 & Under to Open which provides regular league matches in a team environment, is now open and entry closes on Tuesday the 31st of January. The Calendar for Benenden Tennis Festivals has been confirmed with Aussie Open, Girl-Set-match, Summertime Slam and Monster Smash the themes. The festivals are a fantastic opportunity for clubs and venues throughout the country to host fun, themed competitions for local players. Is your club is looking to deliver a project to get more players aged 12 and over playing tennis? Then consider applying for funding through the Play tennis fund, The deadline for applications is Friday the 27th of January. The Road to Wimbledon 14 and Under challenge is a unique competition providing an opportunity to inspire their players and give them a chance to compete at Wimbledon. Venues stage a fun, social competition with a flexible format, with winners progressing to county finals and the winners of that stage move on to National finals at Wimbledon. An organiser pack is provided and entries close on Tuesday the 28th of February. Finally, to be a part of the action watch and Andy Murray and Gordon Reid defending their Wimbledon titles, please remember to ‘opt in’ to the British Tennis Members 2017 Wimbledon Ballot. For more information on any of these initiatives for your venues, please visit https://www.lta.org.uk
If you are looking for Friendly and competitive tennis then get involved with The East Lothian Local tennis leagues. Round 4 runs from the 26th Of January until the 12th of March with entry open until Monday the 23rd of January. To join, or for more information please visit https://localtennisleagues.com/eastlothian. As mentioned in last Months article and building on it's succesful start, The East Lothian Tennis Tour run by Adele Fletcher is continuing. For more information please contact Adele at adele.fletcher@outlook.com
Finally the dates for the East Lothian open have been announced and it will run from Sunday 23rd July to Saturday 29th July, with Information on when the window opens for entries to follow.
Follow us on Social media on our East Lothian Tennis facebook page or @elothiantennis on Twitter to keep up to date with news, updates and pictures from around the region. Or for further information or if you have any tennis related questions please contact The East Lothian Tennis Development Officer, Tom Swan at tswan@enjoyleisure.com or on 07718698959.
There is lots going on, so get along to a club today to get involved!
