The winners from the 2020 Tennis Lancashire Awards were revealed this evening in our online awards ceremony on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

The Awards are presented each year, as part of the national LTA Awards, with coaches, volunteers, clubs and other tennis venues all being nominated by individuals across the County. 

We would like to congratulate all the nominees and the winners of each award, who will now progress to the regional section of the LTA Awards later this year.  If you missed the announcements, you can watch the videos now by clicking here.  Here are your winners...

• Young Person of the Year:  Robert Cowley

Rob is always a friendly face for the players at Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan and a great role model for all of the younger players.  when lockdown hit, Rob used the Robin Park Facebook group to engage with the players and encourage them to use their spare time to improve their fitness and tennis skills.The highlight of the challenges was Rob hitting a tennis ball through a skylight from the end of his garden, which went down a storm with all the players. 

• Communities & Parks Award : Burnley Tennis Club

Burnley Tennis Club formed a partnership with Street Games and offered free coaching sessions as well as a heavily discounted membership offer as well as targeting different community groups across Burnley which resulted in an increase in participation from the BAME community. The Club put on a range of free activities for men, women and juniors every week for 18 weeks so that people who didn't have access to their normal sports could come and play tennis, making these sessions free of charge removed any financial barriers to playing.   The Club also run their own version of Battle of The Brits with two teams of 25 players competing in a series of matches across a full day of competition.

• Competition of the Year : Monkey Tennis Ladder

Monkey Tennis Singles Ladder is an online singles competition taking place at St Annes Tennis Club which started after the end of the first lockdown this year and has seen an overwhelming take up with 150 singles matches played so far.  Competitors upload their results to a website which processes the result and allocates points and a ladder position accordingly. It has provided a fun and competitive outlet for people who are reluctant to play doubles in the current conditions. This ladder has allowed all players to find a good level, organise matches easily and given them a renewed interest in this side of the sport.

• Education Award : Stonyhurst College

Stonyhurst College organised lessons on outdoor tennis courts during the summer holidays while adhering to all Covid protocols, this included individual or ‘small bubble’ classes. They managed to run tennis camps, albeit on a smaller scale and ensure that strict sanitisation levels were upheld. The measures meant that they could keep encouraging the pupils to be active and motivated during this current pandemic. Through the encouragement of the coaching team, children regularly play each outside of organised sessions and have also introduced many of their friends to the sport. Stonyhurst College also arranged tennis matches for the pupils within their year group bubbles.

• Volunteer of the Year: Jane Blackwell (Fulwood LTC)

Jane, as Chairman of Fulwood Lawn Tennis Club, has inspired present members, through her hands on approach, to help in all different aspects of the club. Jane has led the volunteer team in making improvements to the club, the icing on the cake being the newly laid four courts, which Jane worked tirelessly for, making grant applications to local and nationwide charities. She supports junior players in particular, organising mini-tournaments to give them experience.  As a result of Jane’s hard work, Fulwood is now thriving and membership has increased by 40%.

• Performance Coach of the Year: David Shaw (Stonyhurst College)

David’s dedication and passion towards helping players reach their potential is inspirational. During his short time as Director of Tennis at Stonyhurst College, David has implemented a comprehensive tennis programme with over 170 weekly players between the ages of 3-18 years old.  David’s reputation for excellence and performance tennis has attracted a strong stable of national and regional standard players, including former 16 & Under Great Britain representative Lily Hutchings. David has also played a significant role in Holly Staff’s tennis journey which includes National Titles at 16 & Under and 18 & Under, and ITF Junior ranking and a scholarship place at a US Division One College. 

• Development Coach of the Year:  Keeley O’Keeffe (East Wavertree LTC)

Keeley has managed and delivered a very comprehensive tennis programme at East Wavertree LTC in Liverpool over the past twelve months.  Her hard work and determination has seen 72 new children attending weekly sessions throughout the year. All sessions were delivered in a vibrant, fresh and energetic manner. Keeley also introduced a series of Junior Club Tournaments for the first time in many years at East Wavertree due to the increase in junior membership. Keeley has found lots of ways to make tennis fun and creatively play throughout lockdown. She has kept in contact with all juniors via a new parents’ WhatsApp group, which has been very successful. The children have been set tennis challenges for all ages and responded brilliantly to them to keep them engaged.

• Lifetime Acheivement Award : Anne Miller (Bellingham LTC)

Anne has continuously volunteered throughout her lifetime at Bellingham Tennis Club in Wigan to ensure a wide range of individuals have access to tennis as well as improving standards for those that already play and love the game.  Anne has ensured the best coaches, the best facilities are available and that people's finances and time constraints are considered to ensure tennis is accessible to all. Anne has taken part in numerous community activities to raise the profile of tennis throughout the community and has always considered new schemes to reach out to all audiences. Without people like Anne, it would be very easy to see clubs such as Bellingham diminish as well as the amount of individuals that play our sport.

• Club of the Year:  Eccleston Park Lawn Tennis Club

Eccleston Park Tennis Club’s goal for 15 years has been to re-develop 3 old shale courts into an artificial clay surface that allows all year round play for the local community. This goal, including provisions for additional floodlighting, was finally achieved this year following years of tireless fundraising efforts by dedicated volunteers using their commitment to the club to create innovative social events such as festivals, coffee mornings and tennis fun days, providing new revenue streams to drive the project. This fundraising culminated in a 2020 crowdfunding campaign which raised £26,828 from 161 supporters, meeting Sport England criteria for a £10,000 contribution. The amount raised was more than any other tennis club in Britain and demonstrated the importance that the club still has on the local community 115 years since forming.  Furthermore, the club’s campaign has since been used by CrowdFunder as a best practise model and the club volunteers have presented to similar sports clubs to share experience on how to create an inventive and successful fundraising campaign. Additionally the club has seen record numbers of memberships up from 106 in 2019 to 189 this season which is an astonishing 78% increase in a year hit by Covid-19.