Kings Lawn Tennis Club (Kings LTC) is launching two 6-week mother and child tennis courses in May in response to huge demand in the local area.

‘It’s a Big Hit’ has been devised by Elly Shearman, Head Coach at Kings LTC, as a wellbeing class to encourage mums out of the house and to engage in a sociable tennis activity alongside their young children.

The original ‘It’s a Big Hit’ course was fully booked before the formal taster session took place earlier this month, meaning that a second course has been added with space for a further 20 sign-ups.

Britain’s leading tennis charity, Tennis Foundation, has part-funded the project in-keeping with its mission to create opportunities for anyone and everyone to pick up a racket. The funding has enabled Kings LTC to keep the costs low at £3 per session for both mother and child.

Elly Shearman, Head Coach at Kings Lawn Tennis Club, said: “I was inspired to start this mother and child group based on my own experience as a mum trying to get fit and healthy. I attended Buggy Fit religiously after having a baby and it encouraged me to not just regain my fitness, but to get out and about again at a time that can be very isolating for women. I wanted to offer women the same opportunity to get out of the house, play tennis and have fun in an anxiety-free environment! Our initial course filled up quickly so we've added a second course to take place on the same days."

Sadie Moran, Tennis Foundation Development Manager, added: "This project is a great way for mums to engage and network with other mums whilst working on their mental well-being. So many mothers struggle to find a child minder or time to exercise so this session takes all the hassle away."

Kings LTC will dedicate all seven courts to the activity, providing light-hearted coaching sessions for mums while toddlers will have their own session with another coach. Babies in buggies are welcome at the side of court and everyone is invited for free tea and biscuits in the clubhouse after the sessions conclude.

The family friendly club in Bishopston also has a Cardio and Tots session on Fridays at 9:30am-10:30am, which costs £10 for both adult and child.

To book onto the ‘It’s a Big Hit’ course, visit https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/EllyShearmanCoaching/Coaching/Adult or email Elly Shearman on [email protected] for more information.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS:
For more information about Kings Lawn Tennis Club, visit https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/KingsLawnTennisClub
For more information about Tennis Foundation, visit http://www.tennisfoundation.org.uk/

Images:
Mothers attending the taster session at Kings LTC on April 10th.
Kings LTC Head Coach Elly Shearman with her daughter.

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