An exciting new collaboration between Tennis Wales and Parkwood Leisure got off to a flying start last weekend, with the largest recorded Open Weekend in Wales taking place on park tennis courts in Cardiff.

Tennis Wales, in partnership with the LTA, delivered a free schools tennis roadshow during the run up to the weekend, showcasing tennis in local primary schools to over 1,000 young people. This culminated in a large Nature Valley Big Tennis Weekend on the park courts at Heath Park, where more than 450 people joined in organised activity, free taster sessions and had the opportunity to carry on playing over the Wimbledon finals weekend.

The two day event was organised to promote the new partnership between Parkwood Leisure who manage the tennis courts and Tennis Wales, who now market, promote and organise activity on the courts for local people to enjoy. The newly launched www.tenniswalesinthepark.co.uk site allows local people to play on the courts as much as they like by booking online for only £39 per year. 

Luke Williams at Tennis Wales said

“We had an incredible weekend and it was inspiring to see so many families taking to tennis. With over 450 attendees, we have seen 100 young players have already booked onto Tennis for Kids coaching courses for the summer holidays and we know more people will come and use the courts in the weeks ahead. We see our role is to help local people start to play tennis in their local park, where it’s very affordable, and then in time provide them with details of their local tennis club to allow them to progress and continue in the game for years to come”.

The courts at Heath Park can be booked online using the website above for £4.50 per hour, or by subscribing annually for £39. Students can also subscribe for only £19 per year. In 2014 the LTA and Sport Wales collaborated with Cardiff Council to invest £150,000 into refurbishing the courts, providing superb local tennis facilities for local people for years to come.

Photos provided by Owen Morgan