The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is encouraging tennis venues across Avon to enter the biggest junior tournament in British Tennis and give their players the chance to compete on the world famous grass courts at the All England Club, Wimbledon.

The HSBC Road to Wimbledon Challenge is aimed at inspiring girls and boys aged 14 and under to play more tennis. The Challenge is open to all tennis clubs, parks and schools and gives competition organisers flexibility to deliver a fun, engaging and sociable event suitable to their venue.

Winners of these events will progress to an exciting County Finals weekend at Kings Tennis Club in Bishopston, with the County winners qualifying for the National Finals at Wimbledon. Runners up of the County Finals will be treated to a tennis clinic at Wimbledon led by former British No. 1 Tim Henman and AELTC Head Coach Dan Bloxham.

Maggie Tyrrell, Road to Wimbledon Referee for Avon, said: “We’re really looking forward to running the Road to Wimbledon County Finals at Kings Tennis Club again as it’s always such a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, with all the facilities we need. The high number of entries that come from our local clubs and schools make it a great competition and there is always the chance of a few surprises from players who are new to tournaments. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the County winners to go to the All England Club and experience the courts that the top international players use. I’d encourage every club and school in the area to run a qualifying event, so that at least one of their players has this chance.”

Simon Johnson, LTA Head of Region, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to take part in a competition that will give players a chance to play tennis at Wimbledon. The event is open to clubs and schools and we’d love to see as many juniors aged 14 and under taking part in Avon this year.”

In 2016, 191 juniors competed at 13 events in Avon, and more than 1,200 players participated across the entire South West region.

Club, park and school events must take place between 15 April to 11 June, with the County Finals on the weekend of 15 and 16 July and the Road to Wimbledon Challenge National Finals held at Wimbledon from 14 to 19 August.

The entry fee for clubs and parks is £15 for a girls or boys event, or £25 if entering both events, while schools can enter free of charge. Each competition organiser will receive a free organiser pack to help stage the event and other benefits include the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw for Wimbledon merchandise and an invitation to attend the National Finals in August.

Entries must be submitted online and close on Tuesday 28 February.

For more information or to enter the HSBC Road to Wimbledon Challenge, visit https://www.lta.org.uk/competitions/junior/road-to-wimbledon/ or contact the southwest@lta.org.uk.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Image attached:

Road To Wimbledon Avon County Finals venue Kings Tennis Club in Bishopston.

For more information about Road to Wimbledon, visit: http://www.roadtowimbledon.com/

For more information about Kings Tennis Club, visit: http://www.kingstennis.co.uk/

ABOUT THE LTA:

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. It does this under the consumer brand of British Tennis, by working with a broad range of partners and over 25,000 volunteers, to grow the game in communities, clubs and schools. The LTA represents the interests of over 350,000 British Tennis Members, men and women, girls and boys across the country, playing on more than 23,000 courts. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Queen’s Club-London and Eastbourne, all title sponsored by Aegon. The LTA works with many delivery partners to grow the sport across the country. One of these is its charitable entity, the Tennis Foundation, to provide a tennis provision for more than 20,000 schools, disadvantaged youth as well as promoting tennis as an inclusive sport for anyone with a disability. For further information about the LTA and British Tennis, and to review the British Tennis strategy for 2015 – 2018 visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @BritishTennis.