Tennis is a sport that doesn’t receive a lot of publicity across the county so I thought it was time to talk to someone close to the game in Cumbria.
Rob Cresswell is the chairman of Cumbria LTA and he answered the latest round of questions.
Rob, just for starters can you tell me your background and how you got into tennis?
I work for the vehicle manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover as a franchise manager and started playing tennis at a young age having watched Wimbledon and thought I would give it a go.
I have continued to play, not to a particularly high standard, both socially and in the Carlisle and District league for Penrith.
Tennis is a sport that can be played by young and old and we have people in the County playing well into their 80s. It is a great way to keep fit and has a reputation with some for being elitist but that is far from the case.
Cumbrian clubs will welcome new members with open arms and often have coaching programmes for players of all standards.
Can you just explain what your current role is in the Cumbria LTA organisation?
I am the Chairman for Cumbria LTA.
How is the sport of tennis faring in Cumbria. Did COVID make any difference and are numbers holding, falling or climbing?
Tennis suffered like all sports in that we had to stop during the COVID lockdowns but was fortunate to be able to start earlier than some sports. The sport has recovered well and is now back to the pre pandemic levels of participation.
I know of at least two West Cumbrian tennis clubs that are no longer running.
What is the state of league tennis in the county?
We have 30 clubs registered with the LTA in the county and a number of other courts at schools and villages for all standards to enjoy playing tennis so there will always be a court close to wherever anyone lives in the county. All courts can be found on the LTA website.
There are four leagues operating in the county covering all areas from Barrow in the south to Carlisle in the north. Sadly there are not as many teams competing as a few years ago but there is still healthy competition in each of the leagues.
The winners pf each league play off for the Cumbria Cup each year with the current holders being Chatsworth Tennis Club from Carlisle.
What about a county team? Do we compete at a good level and what is the county set-up like nationally?
We have county teams competing at various age groups from eight up to 80. All teams compete to a high level and the county definitely punches above its weight when competing with the larger more affluent counties in the country.
Each year our senior Ladies and Men’s Teams complete at the National County week with the men recently gaining promotion.
Getting youngsters into any sport is often key. What is tennis doing to attract kids to the sport?
The LTA has launched a Youth Tennis Programme where a payment for £30 gives six lessons, a T-shirt and equipment. Teachers can take an online course to qualify them to deliver courses in schools.
We have a team of self-employed coaches around the county who also deliver programmes in schools. We offer junior performance coaching for the aspiring players at various locations in the county.
Our county teams of all ages are supported financially to enable them to compete at various national locations.
Our coaches do an excellent job in attracting and developing young tennis players in the county. Full details are available on the LTA website or via email from [email protected]
Can you tell us of any successful Cumbrian tennis players, currently or in the past?
A number of our players have national rankings in the top 100. We have junior members that play at Wimbledon in the road to Wimbledon competition played after the Grand Slam event. We are working on training the next British Wimbledon champion!
What about the courts now? Are there still many grass or is it much more clay – or even indoors?
There is a mix of court surfaces throughout the County. Most courts are hard courts but there are a small number of grass courts at places such as Hawcoat Park, Barrow and Keswick amongst others. We have indoor courts at Ulverston, Kirkby Lonsdale and Carlisle.
Given a shedload of money how would the Cumbrian LTA spend it for most benefit to the county?
Given the inclement weather in the county the first thing would be more indoor courts. We desperately need some in the west of the county as well as other locations.
The other would be to cover the costs of more coaches. There is the demand for more coaches and we support financially the training and development so there is a good career for local people wanting to coach tennis in the county with financial support for training.
More coaches will help deliver more programmes which will bring more youngsters in to the game.
