The University of Bristol has welcomed Andy Trott to the new role of Director of Tennis. The position has been created to oversee the development of tennis for students and staff and to improve links with the wider community to get more people playing tennis more often.

It is the first time that the University of Bristol has had a dedicated tennis role in its Sports, Health and Exercise department and it is hoped that it can emulate the success of other top class sporting universities in the region, including the nearby Team Bath at the University of Bath.

With a total of 34 indoor and outdoor courts across four locations, including Coombe Dingle Sports Complex and student halls of residence, the University is well placed to increase the accessibility of tennis to the public. The new Director of Tennis also has ambitious plans to set-up a leading disability tennis programme and to establish a student workforce programme that enables students to gain experience and coaching qualifications.

Andy Trott, Director of Tennis, said: "I’m looking forward to designing an ambitious new future for tennis at the University. The sector is in a great place and we have the chance to keep pace and ensure that the centre works for students, staff and the community creating more opportunities than ever before to enjoy the sport."

Matt Edwards, Business Development Manager, University of Bristol Sport, Exercise and Health, added: “We're delighted to be welcoming Andy to the University of Bristol, and to be working more closely than ever with the Lawn Tennis Association on the development of Tennis at the University and within the city of Bristol. This new role will be at the centre of a team which will transform our Tennis offer. Andy's experience, particularly in working with students, is hugely valuable and we're very excited to have our new Director in place.”

Simon Johnson, LTA Head of Region, commented: "We're thrilled to be working in partnership with the University of Bristol and investing in this new Director of Tennis role. There's a huge opportunity to increase the participation for students and the local community and we're looking forward to getting more people playing tennis more often in the City.”

It is a timely appointment for the University as Bristol has been selected to be a European City of Sport 2017 by ACES Europe. Venues and community groups across the city will aim to raise awareness and accessibility of sport in a pledge to get people more active.

Andy Trott comes to the role after six years of working with the LTA, the governing body of British tennis, and the Tennis Foundation, the country’s leading tennis charity. He was Education Officer for the LTA’s South West Regional Team for the last two years.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Image attached:

Andy Trott, Director of Tennis at University of Bristol, at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex.

For more information about University of Bristol Sport, Exercise and Health, visit http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sport/

ABOUT THE LTA:
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. It does this under the consumer brand of British Tennis, by working with a broad range of partners and over 25,000 volunteers, to grow the game in communities, clubs and schools. The LTA represents the interests of over 350,000 British Tennis Members, men and women, girls and boys across the country, playing on more than 23,000 courts. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Queen’s Club-London and Eastbourne, all title sponsored by Aegon. The LTA works with many delivery partners to grow the sport across the country. One of these is its charitable entity, the Tennis Foundation, to provide a tennis provision for more than 20,000 schools, disadvantaged youth as well as promoting tennis as an inclusive sport for anyone with a disability. For further information about the LTA and British Tennis, and to review the British Tennis strategy for 2015 – 2018 visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @BritishTennis.