Lichfield tennis volunteers get coaching qualifications thanks to charity

Sam Brown, 18, and Charlotte Ward, 17, help at Sunday afternoon sessions at Beacon Park in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Now the charity that runs the free tennis scheme, Tennis For Free (TFF), has paid for the pair to complete their LTA level one coaching qualification.

TFF's regional development officer Paul Bayliss said: “Sam is a fantastic example of someone whose love of tennis has driven him since he was a young boy. At first he was a quiet lad who didn’t say much but just loved hitting balls. Now at 18 he is coaching more than 100 children a week and is a real asset to the coaching team.

“Charlotte is a chirpy, cheeky person who loves her tennis. She brings a big smile to the coaching sessions and is a role model to young girls.”

Charlotte, from Great Haywood, started to play tennis at the age of nine at Lichfield Friary Lawn Tennis Club where her mum Hilary played.

Sam, from Lichfield, started playing tennis at Lichfield Friary Tennis Club aged just three and now helps coach at the TFF sessions, the club and goes into schools with the coaching team to encourage youngsters to take up the sport.

Started in 2004, TFF currently has around 500 volunteers and 200 coaches and assistants at its 50 sites across the UK, including in Cannock, and has ambitious aims to recruit approximately 5,000 new volunteers as it expands its network to 500 schemes by 2021.

Chief executive Paul Jessop said: “Our volunteers who come on board and support the free tennis sessions we offer up and down the country, week in week out, are simply wonderful. Their dedication and the part they play in bringing people together through sport and building relationships in their communities is vitally important.

“It is this commitment and passion for our sport which will help Tennis For Free develop into a scheme run by the community, for the community.”