Wem tennis aces honoured

The impressive efforts of the north Shropshire club saw Wem receive the prestigious award at Tennis Shropshire’s AGM held at The Shrewsbury Club.

Shropshire awards were also presented to Peter Hughes (volunteer of the year), Taylor Youens (young person of the year) Craig Sherratt (development coach of the year), Adam Wharf (performance coach of the year) and the Battle of Shropshire (competition of the year).

Certificates were presented to the winners by Tennis Shropshire president Keith Smith.

The LTA Tennis Awards highlight the achievements and contributions of people involved with the sport across Britain each year.

Launched in 2015, Shropshire’s former LTA president Cathie Sabin - who was always so passionate about recognising the efforts of the many thousands of inspirational individuals involved in tennis - was instrumental in the awards being introduced.

The county winners from across England will now go forward to the regional awards, with the regional winners then progressing to the national LTA Tennis Awards alongside winners from Tennis Wales and Tennis Scotland.

Tennis Shropshire chair Fiona Jones said: “Congratulations to all our county winners and to everyone nominated for this year’s awards.

“We are fortunate in Shropshire to have so many wonderful clubs that depend so much on the dedication and support of inspirational volunteers.

“There are so many hard-working people involved with tennis in the county and it is fantastic that their efforts attract such well deserved recognition.

“We wish our Shropshire winners well as they progress to the regional stage of the LTA Tennis Awards."

Wem Tennis Club, the Shropshire club of the year, have been particularly busy in recent years, with the club's three courts resurfaced while they also have a new clubhouse.

It is an excellent facility, both for club members and the local community, with the club having established partnerships with local organisations, including schools and a youth club.

Adult membership at Wem has doubled, with two club nights now run each week well attended, as well as offering a number of successful junior and adult coaching sessions.

Wem’s focus for 2022 includes exciting plans to run a Wem Open tournament.

Wem Tennis Club also provided the winner of the Shropshire volunteer of the year award, which was presented to Peter Hughes, the club’s chair.

Having played a key role in Wem’s significant development project, Peter took on a number of jobs to ensure its successful delivery.

A regular player at Wem, Peter has organised fund-raising events, social events and club nights throughout the year.

He has served on the committee for many years and contributes so much in terms of developing and maintaining Wem's great facilities for members and the local community.

Taylor Youens from Baschurch Tennis Club received the young person of the year award for the second successive year.

Taylor completed his level one in tennis coaching and runs Saturday social for two hours at the club every weekend.

He has also helped run a club with one of the head coaches on Mondays for school children, as well as an LTA club for six weeks, clubs throughout the summer holidays, and he assists the coaches each Thursday with sessions for younger groups of children.

The first to volunteer with training, events and open days at Baschurch, Taylor is always on time, polite, kind and well mannered.

Craig Sherratt from inspire2coach has been named as development coach of the year. Having joined the team at The Shrewsbury Club in May 2021, his initial project was to develop a programme for adult beginners.

He set up a series of Tennis Xpress courses, creating a community of adult beginners, and entered a team in the Shropshire Mixed Doubles League to allow them to practice competitively, giving the players great encouragement.

Craig has led wheelchair tennis sessions at the club and has travelled around the country to speak to various experts to develop his own knowledge, watching hours of footage to ensure he delivers suitable sessions.

Craig has also delivered sessions at Shrewsbury’s Monkmoor Recreation Centre - as part of Tennis Shropshire’s community tennis programme - introducing different activities each week to help participants develop core tennis skills, adapting sessions so they all benefit.

He has run six sessions a week at council run tennis courts to enable a wider range of children to take up the sport.

Adam Wharf, the performance coach of the year, has a lead role working with the Shropshire junior county tennis teams.

He also runs Tennis Shropshire’s coach mentoring scheme and the tennis cadets and futures programme.

He works with promising performance players in his role as head of talent at The Shrewsbury Club.

The Battle of Shropshire, organised and expertly run by Simon Haddleton and Amy Dannatt, has been named as the county’s competition of the year for the second successive year.

The team tennis competition was introduced in 2020 under strict Covid-19 guidelines, with the desire to still deliver fun and competitive tennis.

The tournament has developed into a not to be missed event in the Shropshire calendar and the 2022 tournament is already eagerly anticipated.

Encompassing all age groups and played across two weeks at The Shrewsbury Club, it combines fun, family and competitive tennis, and is thoroughly enjoyed by many - with 19 Shropshire clubs represented during the latest Battle of Shropshire.

The tournament is one that Tennis Shropshire is incredibly proud of as it continues to grow.

PICTURED:

Andrew Hawke, right, received the club of the year award for Wem Tennis Club from Tennis Shropshire president Keith Smith. Andrew also collected the volunteer of the year award on behalf of Wem’s Peter Hughes.

Craig Sherratt was presented with the development coach of the year award by Keith Smith.

Amy Dannatt with the competition of the year certificate for her role in organising and running the Battle of Shropshire.

Taylor Youens from Baschurch Tennis Club received the young volunteer of the year award for the second successive year.

Simon Haddleton pictured with the competition of the year award for organising and running the Battle of Shropshire. Simon also collected the performance coach of the year award on behalf of Adam Wharf.