Located on The Shrewsbury Club site at Sundorne Road, the centre – named in honour of Cathie, Shropshire’s inspirational former Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) president, who sadly passed away in May 2020 – has been welcoming tennis players since last September.

Joined by Shropshire Council employees and teachers and trustees from Tennis Shropshire, we had the chance to experience tennis in ways we haven’t before and to discuss our various roles which interlink in developing more opportunities for inactive people to be physically active.

Discussions about local public health, NHS, active travel, social prescribing, leisure facilities, fall prevention for older people and the health and activity of children and young people from primary school age onwards, all brought together our current work and how we can increase collaboration further. The conversations we had focused on breaking down barriers, creating more accessible opportunities for everyone and expanding provision to better serve and support our local communities across the county.

Tennis Shropshire provided us with activities to showcase what the sport looks like today, utilising the LTA’s ‘Tennis Opened Up’ theme, to welcome as many people as possible to play. We split into three groups to take part in different activities, with Matt Elkington, Henry Broadhurst and Craig Sherratt delivering the sessions. 

We experienced:

• Wheelchair Tennis: We learned more about the sport and how challenging it is. Being able to play in the Cathie Sabin Tennis Centre showed all the benefits this fantastic facility has for hosting people using a wheelchair.

 

• VI Tennis: We all got involved in simulating various amounts of sight loss and learnt how tracking and guiding players is vital in the fastest growing impairment specific version of tennis.

 

• LTA Youth: The association’s latest product to engage young people in playing tennis. We had the chance to experience what tennis teaching looks like for a child now compared to older people’s experiences at school just a few years ago and more.

 

If you would like more information about the Cathie Sabin Community Tennis Centre and what it can offer, visit their website here.

Click here for LTA's Tennis Youth resources for use in clubs, groups, organisations, schools, care provisions, at home and more.

Find out how you can make a positive impact in your local community through the power of tennis. 

The event included some of the Energize STW team with Shropshire Council employees Penny Bason, Sean McCarthy, Pete Davis, Tracey Godsall, Rhiannon Letman-Wade, Kletos Traconitis, Jody Bocking, Anne-Marie Speak, and Abi Lowe-Werrell, plus Fiona, Craig, Henry and Matt from Tennis Shropshire.

Credit: Tennis Shropshire

Credit: Tennis Shropshire