WELCOME TO BEN SMITH

The Committee is pleased to announce that we have appointed Ben Smith as the Club’s new Head Coach. He will start on 1st July 2020, in good time for a full handover from Chris Cunningham who leaves on 18th July 2020. There will, however, be opportunities to thank Chris in due course, as Covid-19 permits.

Ben is well known in the tennis world of Suffolk and far beyond. With a degree in Sport and Business Management from the University of New Orleans, he has been working at David Lloyd in Ipswich since 2013, having been Head Coach at Copleston High School for 3 years before that.

Ben has coached national and international juniors including 2nd in GB Boys and 5th in GB Girls. He coached Suffolk U12 and U14 Boys County coach from 2014-2017. He was practice partner to Elena Baltacha, and reached a high of 1255 in ATP Doubles. Ben helped Suffolk to win the Summer County Cup National Championships in 2018, and has captained two Men’s Club teams from county to premier division. Ben was an official Stringer at London 2012 including medal winners Robson, Del Potro and the Bryan brothers.

Ben beat several other good applicants to the role of Head Coach at Stowmarket, after a gruelling selection process that had generated 13 applicants from all over the world. A plum job if ever there was one. On being appointed he said “I’m delighted to be a part of such a fantastic tennis club and help to grow the future of tennis in Stowmarket and Suffolk. I can’t wait to meet the members and look forward to working with you all at SLTC”.

Ben will be at the Club this weekend to meet members informally. A proper ‘meet the coach’ opportunity will be held over the weekend of 11th and 12th July. Covid-19 arrangements for the sessions will be published soon.

Sally Gooch

Chair