Suffolk LTA

Well done Suffolk! 

SUFFOLK TENNIS GRAND PRIX  announced as Competition of the Year at LTA Tennis Awards

 RUBY BISHOP  - Suffolk LTA Disability Coordinator announced as Young Person of the Year at LTA Tennis Awards

SUFFOLK TENNIS GRAND PRIX

A tennis circuit in East Anglia, designed to boost accessible and competitive competition for players in the region, has been crowned a national winner at the prestigious LTA Tennis Awards.

The Suffolk Tennis Grand Prix was set up in 2021 as a collaboration between ten Suffolk tennis coaches and their clubs as a way to get junior players competing more regularly.

The coaches had noticed that their respective players were either only playing inter-club matches or put off by the level at LTA competitions, so set up the Grand Prix to combat both issues.

The scheme was announced as the winner by tennis official James Keothavong at a live-streamed awards ceremony presented by LTA President David Rawlinson and hosted by the LTA’s head of Men’s Tennis Leon Smith.

The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their seventh year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.

Suffolk Tennis Grand Prix was hand-picked as one of 17 national winners recognised at the awards ceremony on Thursday, which honoured individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county, regional and national level.

Nominations were drawn from over 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and over 9,000 LTA approved tournaments, with the Grand Prix recognised for boosting friendly competition across all age groups.

From May to October 2021, one competition was held a month across six different junior age groups, providing a vital opportunity to compete against new players after disruption caused by lockdowns.

The quality and quantity of the nominations demonstrate outstanding work that has been done in tennis throughout the last year and David Rawlinson, LTA President, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.

“They acknowledge the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.

“The outstanding contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting and I would like to thank them for their fantastic work.”

Congratulations to all the Competition of the Year National Finalists:

• Defiant Sports (Sussex)
• Battle of Shropshire (Shropshire)
• Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club (Yorkshire)
• The Nairn 90th Tournament (Scotland)
• East Gloucestershire Club (Gloucestershire)
• Rhiwbina Tennis Club ITF Welsh Open (Wales)
• Suffolk Tennis Grand Prix (Suffolk)

  RUBY BISHOP

British wheelchair tennis player, Ruby Bishop has won a prestigious LTA Tennis Award for balancing her own burgeoning career with providing coaching assistance for younger players.

Ruby, who has cerebral palsy hemiplegia, has broken into the top 100 in her wheelchair tennis career and represented Team GB, balancing that alongside studying at college.

However, she is also an assistant coach at TennisAble, helping to provide support to coaches working with children who have physical impairments or learning difficulties.

She was announced as the winner by Bear Grylls at a live-streamed awards ceremony presented by LTA President David Rawlinson and hosted by the LTA’s Head of Men’s Tennis Leon Smith.

The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their seventh year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.

Ruby was hand-picked as one of 17 national winners recognised at the awards ceremony on Thursday, which honoured individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county, regional and national level.

Nominations were drawn from over 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and over 9,000 LTA approved tournaments, with Ruby celebrated for her efforts in encouraging more junior players to take up the sport.

Ruby is always willing to talk to younger players about her experiences and provide advice and support, and is also passionate about introducing inclusive sport in schools.

Earlier in the month, Ruby was part of the British Wheelchair World Team Cup squad in Portugal where she became Colour Holder number 319 after making her debut partnering Cornelia Oosthuizen in doubles.

The quality and quantity of the nominations demonstrate outstanding work that has been done in tennis throughout the last year and David Rawlinson, LTA President, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.

“They acknowledge the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.

“The outstanding contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting and I would like to thank them for their fantastic work.”

Congratulations to all of our Young Person of the year National Finalists:

• Ruby Bishop (Norfolk)
• Aidan Dell (Devon)
• Jayden Hobbs (Sussex)
• Emma Howat (Scotland)
• Emily-Mai Jordan (Wales)
• Edward Knight (Cheshire)
• Kian McGrath (Herefordshire and Worcestershire)

Junoir Tennis

What a busy weekend for Suffolk Junior tennis. They competed  in The Lionel Cox Trophy Tournament which was held over the 30th April and 1st May. It is an inter-county event involving 10 counties across the East region of England. It is the biggest event of its kind, involving over 150 players. It’s all singles play with teams of three boys and three girls from the 9U, 10U and 12U age groups. 

There was amazing tennis and great effort from all the Boys and Girls. The girls 12u team performed extremely well finishing runners up to Essex. All the teams did well especially as it was some children’s first time competing for Suffolk. 

12’s Girls – runner up

12’s Boys  - 4th

9’s Boys- 5th

Well done!

Tennis in Suffolk

Tennis is thriving in Suffolk despite these unprecedented times.   Great to see so much tennis activity both at club level and in local leagues.  Suffolk LTA is happy to  support and help clubs think through their plans to continue safe play through the rest of the summer and into the winter season.  We support tennis venues, volunteers, the coaching workforce, players, parents, the education sector and community venues, aiming to get more people playing tennis more often.  

In everything we do, we strive to be a transparent organisation, ensuring tennis is accessible, welcoming and enjoyable for everyone who wants to take part in the sport.