A fantastic turnout braved yet another rainy evening last week to join us for a knowledge‑sharing event dedicated to the Middlesex Tennis community.
Designed for those involved in club and venue development, the two‑hour session brought people together for a series of themed roundtables covering Loans, Coaching & Leadership Development, Competitions, and Inclusion. Attendees were free to move between discussions, making it easy to explore different topics and connect with others. A cold buffet and drinks kept everyone fuelled, and—as always—plenty of time was set aside for networking.
The evening opened with a warm welcome from Phil Veasey, Chair of Middlesex Tennis, who highlighted key achievements from the past year. This was followed by an update from General Manager Andrew Lewandowski, who outlined the progress made across the county and how it aligns with the four‑year Middlesex Tennis Strategy (2024–2027). Remarkably, we are already halfway through the strategy period.
Loans
Facilitated by our Governance and Loans Trustee, Karen Shepley, and Operations Manager, Katie Birtwistle, the sessions focused on how Clubs can raise money to support ongoing infrastructure and development projects.
Key takeaways
- Portable LED floodlights – Fruitful discussion around the merits of portable LED floodlights versus permanent lighting solutions. However worth noting these solutions do not meet LTA standards.
- Alternative funding sources to LTA and Middlesex Tennis were discussed with possible funding sources flagged:
- Sport England: Movement Fund
- Aviva Community Fund
- Local Refuse companies withing your area such as – Biffa Award
- Your Local authority
- Canopy court cover solutions discussed, highlighted at the new low cost indoor cover option, with lower build and running costs than air hall/bubble structures.
Coaching & Leadership Development
Facilitated by our 10U Performance Lead, Stuart Wilkinson. The session discussed coaching at clubs but more importantly how Clubs can develop players internally.
Key takeaways
- Coaches asking for ideas how to get current players into coaching – signposted to the leaders – and established running the leaders course again this October time would be of benefit
- Advice around park tennis linked to clubs or club coaches – is there a way of joining a park venue as a feeder to a club?
- Helping committees understanding coaching and providing different opportunities for their members. Specifically with Gunnersbury – How to keep your younger stronger adults engaged at a club in coaching and playing
Competitions
Facilitated by our Competitions Co-ordinator, Becky, Prangley. The session focused on current formats within team tennis and how competitions might be structured differently in the future.
Key takeaways
- Middlesex Cup – Sudden death deuce in Winter and Summer Cups. Introduce in Summer 2026. For Winter 2026 & Summer Cup 2027 – Look to implement sharper format e.g Fast Four. Shorten matches to be in line with today’s lifestyles and club court needs for members. Gather feedback from surveys and Connect meetings to involve all team captains / players views.
- Middlesex Leagues – Winter & Summer: Discussions on different formats that could be used – pros & cons. Consultation of team captains and players needed & set up a working group to ascertain what the main consensus is on areas to evolve the leagues.
- FAQ – needs to be sent to club admins and Team Captains for leagues / Cup. Also to be put on website.
Inclusion
Facilitated by our Inclusion Lead, Martin Etheridge, and Mark Bullock, leading advocate for disabled tennis players. The session focused on sharing the wide list of inclusive activities a Club can get involved with. Probably the most popular roundtable of the evening with lots of positive energy and interaction.
Martin started off with his “bingo card” which lists 24 different options for inclusive tennis activity.
The image shows an annotated version by one of the attendees, which shows the level of engagement.
Two or three of those attending went through what they were doing in their club.
Key takeaways
- Attendees keen to implement inclusive activities within their venues. Those who have already implemented inclusive activities would be very happy to support others.
- Plenty of examples of inclusive activities were shared.
- The main question was how to actually start, especially around where to find the groups to engage with. Martin & Mark said there would never be a perfect time to start. It will take time. Start incrementally and not wait until you have 6 or more people lined up and willing to attend a session. Some discussion on what support would be available to help coaches and volunteers actually run a session.
Feedback
How would you rate the event overall?
How helpful was the content presented during the evening?
What did you find most valuable about the event?
“All of it” ~ “Networking” ~ “Roundtable but not enough time“
“Have informal conversations with other clubs and learning from their experiences.”
“Connecting with Middlesex Tennis” ~ “Being able to ask questions“
“The opportunity to meet in person and discuss tennis development opportunities”
“Info on Middlesex activities and competitions”
We were delighted with the positive feedback and are already looking forward to the next event. If you’d like to join us, email Jane and she’ll make sure your name is added to the guest list.
As a County, our priority is to ensure as many Clubs and Venues as possible can benefit from these sessions—gaining practical knowledge and, just as importantly, sharing their own experiences. It was fantastic to see so many Clubs arranging follow‑up conversations and swapping success stories throughout the evening.
