£1.6m tennis fund serves up new opportunities for Essex students

A major £1.6 million investment in tennis will help the University of Essex serve up new opportunities for students and develop the next generation of coaches.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced the funding boost to grow participation, improve competitions and develop the sport across British universities.

Essex is one of the LTA's university partner institutions and will receive £10,000 a year to support a University Tennis Coordinator and Student Tennis Activator.

The roles will help develop new recreational and competitive tennis opportunities, provide coaching for the University's thriving student tennis club and support talented tennis scholars.

Students will also be able to boost their employability skills by gaining coaching qualifications and hands-on experience supporting tennis activities.

Dave Parry, Director of Sport at the University of Essex, said: "This is fantastic news for tennis at Essex and will help us build on the incredible success we've enjoyed in recent years.

"Our women's team reaching the highest level of university tennis in the country shows just how far we've come, but we're equally passionate about giving students of all abilities the chance to pick up a racket and get involved.

"This investment will help us grow the game, support our talented players and give students valuable coaching experience and qualifications that will benefit them long after they graduate."

The investment comes as tennis continues to go from strength to strength at Essex, with growing participation and impressive performances on the national stage.

Earlier this year, the University's women's performance tennis team secured promotion to the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) National Premier division after a brilliant victory over Durham.

The achievement saw the team reach the highest level of university tennis in the UK, building on recent successes enjoyed by both the men's and women's teams.

The LTA's £1.6 million investment represents a 15 per cent increase on the previous funding cycle and will run until the end of the 2028-29 academic year.

Universities will match the funding, unlocking a further £1.6 million to develop tennis programmes across the country.

The number of partner institutions is also set to grow from 32 to 50, with the investment focused on increasing participation, developing the tennis workforce and improving student competitions.

LTA Universities Manager Alistair Higham said: "University tennis has gone from strength to strength in recent years, both in terms of players’ on-court performances and their off-court involvement and impact in clubs nationwide upon leaving university.

"We know that the continued health of university tennis means the continued health of British tennis more widely, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we can continue our work with partner universities into the future."