As one of the first activities to return from lockdown, families have been able to enjoy the inherently socially-distanced sport of tennis, and none more locally than the accomplished Billericay Lawn Tennis Club.
With over 400 mini and junior members, Billericay Lawn Tennis Club (BLTC) are chock-full of success stories and talent. We spoke to former WTA ranked tennis plater and Joint Head Coach & Head of Performance, Helen Parish, to find out what some of the players and coaches have been up to in 2021.
Helen, who has been coaching at BLTC since 2017, won the award for LTA Performance Coach of the Year in both the County and Regional stages in 2021, and was recognised as the National Runner-Up among a very strong shortlist.
It’s not just coaches who excel, speaking to us about some of the players’ recent achievements Helen explains: “Edie Griffiths is the #2 ranked 12U player in Great Britain and was invited as one of the top 32 girls in Europe to compete in the year-end Tennis Europe Festival at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca.
“Isabella Rebel, who first picked up a tennis racket at BLTC, is now ranked joint #1 in Great Britain for 9U girls and won her first National Tour event in October.
“Shamiso Ndoro is an LTA National Age Group Programme Scholar who made the final of her first ever 14U Tennis Europe event in November, and recently won her first Open Women’s regional-level tournament.
“Our 2021 county champions also included Thomas Taylor-Widgery and Anya Taylor, the latter of whom started competing nationally and internationally in 2021.
“I am ‘all in’ with my work and absolutely love seeing players I coach gain experiences and achieve goals they perhaps never thought possible.
“Tennis can really benefit a child’s physical development in terms of agility, balance and co-ordination as well as helping to develop skills such as problem-solving, concentration, dealing with winning and losing, and learning core values such as fair play and respect.”
The club was recently awarded LTA 10U Performance Programme status, which identifies BLTC as one of around 60 of the most capable programmes for players aged 6-10 in Great Britain.
“We’ll have lots of fun events scheduled in 2022 for all the family including our fantastic ‘Club & Grub’ social evenings for junior members, as well as hosting the annual ‘Essex Open’ LTA Grade 3 regional-level tournament in July” added Helen.