Kentish Express Ashford & District
Vibrant set-up a model to all
VILLAGE TENNIS CLUB CONTINUES TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH AFTER UPGRADING OUTDATED FACILITIES
It’s 10.30am on a bright but cold Saturday in the middle of winter and the five courts at Wye Tennis Club are a hive of activity. From the tots learning the basics of the game to the veterans still trying to perfect the unreturnable backhand, every age has its place here. If ever proof was needed that tennis is a sport that can be played by anyone, this is it. Yet, there is nothing different about this particular Saturday, no special promotions, no kids for a quid incentives to get people in. This is how it is every Saturday at Wye, or at least it is since the club upgraded their previously modest facilities to drag them into the 21st century. Chairman Graham Sutherland proudly describes the club as “vibrant” but it was not so long ago that a more appropriate description would have been “dormant”. With just two crumbling courts, a portable cabin that served as a clubhouse and toilets that left a lot to be desired, Wye was desperately in need of a facelift. It was a place that teachers at the nearby Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School would not dream of sending pupils. Fast forward to today and more than half the children at the 480-strong school play there which has helped to swell the club’s membership from a modest 149 to more than 360. Mr Sutherland takes up the story. “When I became chairman (in November 2005) one of the first things I did was to go the school and ask them why they did not send their children here. They said it was because of the facilities and I said ‘fair enough’ and we set about doing something about it.” The catalyst for moving the club forward was getting a new clubhouse which was opened in September, 2008, with the help of money from Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council and the Lawn Tennis Association. Mr Sutherland and his wife Beryl also The club also have high hopes for nine-year-old Lucas Hanley who is ranked No.8 in the region and hopes soon to break into the national set-up. Mr Sutherland said: “This is a club that caters for everyone. Tennis is such a good family game. “It can be played boy-girl, husbandwife, young and old which is marvellous. “You come down on a Sunday and you’ll see mum and dad with their kids playing.”