Council launches search for new talent

4.26.53pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Aug 2006

Council launches search for tennis talent

Richmond Council will stage a series of talent-spotting events in a bid to unearth and develop the borough's hottest young tennis talent.

The Council's Sports Development Team is inviting players aged between five and 11 years old, to five free open days at tennis clubs around the borough in September.

The best will go forward to a grand final at St Mary's College in Twickenham on September 24, where 36 boys and girls will win a racket and a prized place on an indoor tennis training programme.

Top coaches will hone their skills at the Richmond Indoor Academy between October and April 2007 before supporting their transition into club level tennis.

Cllr John Coombs, Cabinet Member for Libraries, Sports, Arts and Leisure on Richmond Council, said:

"This wonderful project will see the best young players handpicked and given a head start in the game.

"Richmond upon Thames is already the most active borough in the capital and the Council is determined to increase the number of young people taking part in competitive sport.

"Wimbledon is just down the road and with London 2012 on the horizon, I hope we will see this raw talent moulded into the champions of the future.

"And who knows, the next Andy Murray might be right here in our borough waiting to be discovered."

The talent search forms the second phase in a three-year plan to make tennis accessible to all juniors in the borough.

In the first year the Council's Sports Development Team and the Lawn Tennis Association teamed up in a £6,000 programme delivering 12 hours of free coaching to 28 schools in the borough.

A Council move to open up local park courts free of charge to all juniors in the borough has also proved a massive hit, with more young people playing the game than ever before.