For two weeks each year the British public go crazy for tennis as the top players in the world compete for the Wimbledon Championship, but tennis isn’t just a summer sport. With the indoor facilities and activities on offer at Tipton Sports Academy you can play all year round, as we found out.

Report By : Mandy Toor, Charlotte, Stephan Hollis and Robert Green.

Tipton Sports Academy is part of the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) National Performance Programme for developing outstanding tennis talent and raising the standards in British tennis.

The Academy offer taster sessions for beginners and run weekly coaching classes for their performance players. Along with the top class facilities and expert coaching the academy has created the perfect environment for players to develop, perform to their highest standards and simply enjoy the sport.

Here at Voice 21, we decided to try out the facilities, learn more about tennis and meet some of the top young players Sandwell has to offer. So we got a few members of the team together to visit the Academy. On arrival we met up with Lee Marks, Tennis Development officer for Sandwell, he gave us an insight into the sport and the activities available. “Tennis is a rewarding individual sport, it is different to contributing towards a team sport as it is just you against your opponent, you have to rely on your own ability.” 

It has almost been 10 years since Tipton Sports Academy was given a face lift using National Lottery funding. The full cost of upgrading the complex was more than £3million and was officially opened by the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on 12 July 1998.For a club to run a performance programme it must have at least 4 players of national standard, of which Tipton has over 10. “The complex includes 6 indoor and 6 floodlit outdoor tennis courts. There is an athletics stadium with a running track, a football pitch, gym and sports hall. There is professional coaching available, community events or members of the public can hire the facilities.”

For a club to run a performance programme it must have at least 4 players of national standard, of which Tipton has over 10. “If you are serious about tennis, compete regularly in tournaments and you are in the top 100 in the UK of your age group then you qualify as a performance player. We have many high class players here at Tipton Sports Academy and one has already turned professional.”

We asked Lee about the future and popularity of the sport in Britain and if it will be effected by the retirement of Tim Henman. “I don’t think so. We now have Andy Murray and he has more potential to be better than Henman. You might also get the odd player breaking through but I think we might have to rely on Andy for a few years. We have put in place new Tennis initiatives so in 5 to 10 years you will see a crop of younger players breaking through.”

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Last year, two young British players had their £20,000 a year funding cut due to ill-judged messages and images posted on community websites. We asked Lee if he thought the LTA were right to punish them or if it was just a case of young people being young. “The LTA have strict policies, plus they were under contract which states they are not allowed to drink, so the LTA were right to punish them. They are role models and need to promote good behaviour.”It has been over 30 years since  a Britain won the Wimbledon title. Virginia Wade won the ladies singles back in 1977 and since then we have only really had Henman, Rusedski and now Murray to shout about. In fact, there hasn’t been any British women come close to winning a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade and currently we have no females in the top 100 of world tennis, where as Russia have 6 women ranked in the top 16. We asked Lee if he knew any reason why as a nation we fail to produce top class players.

 “Money wise we are well off as a country so it’s not that, I just think it’s the British mentality. We are not as disciplined as other countries, we are lazier and less motivated. Young players in other countries are fighting for a better life. Also, they train every day against other players of great quality which helps to improve your game. That is the reason Andy Murray is doing so well, he went to train abroad for many years competing against players that were better than him. You have to take yourself out of your comfort zone to push on to the next level.”

 Finally, we asked Lee what he thought of the young talent at the Academy and if we will see them competing on the world stage in years to come. “Yeah I see a lot of potential but it is all down to the individual. We have players with a lot of talent and they train five days a week at the Academy so they will develop their game and have a high level of fitness. Some players have won tournaments and are doing well in their age group, it depends how far they want to take it. We have already had one girl turn pro and hopefully more people will follow.”Now it was our turn to have a go ourselves, so we grabbed a racket each and joined in a taster session with some other youngsters from the area. The coaching was lead by Kieran Beattie, it was fast paced and lots of fun. . Following our session, we met up with two performance players to find out about their achievements, their hopes for the future and what they think of the opportunities available for young people at the Academy. 

Stephen

I thought it was brilliant. As it was our first session and we joined a new group, they really made us feel welcome and we didn’t feel left out. My favourite part was when we all got to play each other during the mini tournaments. So, if you are bored or want to keep fit, get down to Tipton Sports Academy and play some tennis… it’s great!

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Mandy

I’ve played tennis at school during P.E, but there we play outside in the freezing cold where as the academy have indoor facilities. I thought the session/coaching was professional yet very fun, the trainers were very active and got involved in all the activities. I would definitely do it again, it was a really enjoyable event.

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Robert

I have never played tennis before but I have always been interested in the sport and I watch it on TV. I really enjoyed taking part in the tennis session, it really tests your reaction speed but I got the hang of it and I would really like to do it again. It is an all round sport, anyone can play, it’s fun and it’s a good way to exercise.

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 Charlotte

The tennis session was really good and I had a lot of fun. The different activities and tournaments were class. We were all made to feel so welcome which was great because usually when you try a new activity you feel awkward. I would definitely do it again because it was very enjoyable, it’s a good way to keep fit and it was a great experience.