The Peter Luck-Hille Cup 2017/8
Final -Wellington College May 27th 2018
THE DEDANISTS' FOUNDATION
of REAL TENNIS
Our Work
INSPIRE
Through our programme of grants, we support Real Tennis clubs to reach out to all young people in their local communities. Teaching young people to play Real Tennis, inspiring a love of the game and its tradition of good sportsmanship. We also help to create sustainable junior membership sections within clubs and significantly increase the number of under-24s involved in the game and keep them engaged.
We support clubs that show an eagerness to work with young people by increasing youth involvement on an open-access basis. We encourage clubs to devote court time and other resources to young people from their local communities, schools, and youth groups. This has resulted in many UK clubs entering a club junior team to play in the National Inter-Club Handicap Tournament for juniors called the Peter Luck-Hille Cup run by the Foundation. We also run junior coordinator courses to give club amateur players the knowledge and skills to support their Professional in the running of junior coaching sessions.
NURTURE
PLAY
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Junior Coaching & Programmes
As part of our work to establish Real Tennis as a viable choice for participants of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, we have created a best practice Junior Coaching Manual. Professionals can use this as a framework to create junior coaching sessions at their own clubs.
Download the Junior Coaching Manual here...
INSPIRE...
HOW?
The Dedanists’ Foundation has created a “Train the Trainers” course to teach Real Tennis professionals how to recruit and coach junior players.
Professionals need this extra knowledge as many club professionals only have a limited experience of giving lessons to a group of juniors which requires quite a different approach to that of coaching adults.
This course is fully funded by The Dedanists’ Foundation and has now been included as a module in the IiP Scheme (Investing in Professionals).
Dedanists’ Foundation ambassadors, Danny Jones and Paul Weaver, who put the course together, have between them many years of experience in coaching youngsters. They have, over the years, developed proven techniques for coaching young players and delivering a well-constructed junior group lesson.
Many of today's top UK players were coached by Danny Jones and Paul Weaver using these methods.
The course also covers the basics of how to recruit juniors to your club in the first place and how to retain them. It also provides templates for equipment required, Parental Consent forms, registers, Certificates, appraisals, etc.
Adjacent is a suite of video clips showing some of the basic coaching techniques for juniors. These are best used in conjunction with the documentation that is supplied in the course.
Watch some junior coaching in action...
WHY?
GRANTS
We have identified University Student Real Tennis Clubs as a very effective means of recruiting new young players, and well worth our support.
We have awarded cash grants to each of the following university student clubs: Bristol, Middlesex, St Andrews, St Mary's, Exeter (who play at the Hyde and Bristol courts), Newcastle, York, Northumberland and Durham (who play at the Jesmond Dean court).
We have awarded these grants on the basis that the student clubs have proper governance, elected Officers, formal University recognition and a formal relationship with their local club with a court.
These factors will help to ensure that these student clubs endure from one academic year to the next, and that the Foundation funding delivers long-term benefit for Junior Real Tennis.
Universities
Set up a Real
Tennis Society
at Uni!
We can help
with FUNDS
Going to Uni?
Just started at University or going next year?
Many young Real Tennis players are lost to the game once they move away from their home club to go to University. The Dedanists’ Foundation are keen to help you keep playing whilst you are away at university.
If you are planning to go to a University that is within reaching distance of a Real Tennis club, we may be able to help. We can let you know if your university already has a Real Tennis Section. The Dedanists’ Foundation can also put you in touch with the nearest club and even contribute towards the cost of your courts and the cost of travel to get there.
And if you find that there is a group of you that would like to play Real Tennis, we can help set up and fund an official Real Tennis Section within the university. We currently support Real Tennis Sections at 8 leading Universities.
If you would like more information on this Dedanists’ Foundation initiative, please email Paul Weaver (pweaver@btopenworld.com) or phone on 07740 913841 to discuss.
Paul Weaver (Dedanists’ Foundation Ambassador & Director of Junior Tennis UK)
Tournaments We Sponsor
The Peter Luck-Hille Cup
This tournament is sponsored by The Dedanists’ Foundation. It is part of the Foundation’s programme for encouraging and helping clubs to recruit more schools and youngsters into the game.
This event is a junior inter-club competition run on a handicap basis designed to include predominantly youngsters aged 12-15 with handicaps ranging from 65-90.
The Charity, with the assistance of our Ambassador Paul Weaver, has successfully run the Peter Luck-Hille Cup for the last nine years. This inter-club junior team competition is aimed at giving juniors who may be below the elite level a chance to take part in team matches and meet similar juniors from other clubs.
SPONSORSHIP
Handicap Tournaments
The Foundation sponsors several Junior Handicap Real Tennis tournaments. These tournaments do not attract the more established, elite junior players and are therefore of much more interest to the Charity. We currently sponsor the following events:-
National Under 15/Under 19 Handicap Doubles Tournament
National Under 18 Handicap Singles Tournament
Universities
We actively support and fund the playing of real tennis whilst at university. Traditionally, many young players lose touch with the game when they go off to university and we aim to keep as many of them as possible on court during their university years.
We fund Real Tennis Clubs around the country to recruit, organise and coach students from universities in their area. We also encourage students to form a real tennis club within their university. We award grants to them to help with the cost of courts, coaching, equipment and travel.
We are also joint sponsors of the annual Inter-University Tournament at Cambridge.
Train the Trainer Workshops for Professionals
We fund the development and delivery of a one-day practical workshop to train club pros on how to recruit and coach youngsters.
It is part of the Tennis & Rackets Association (T&RA) /International Real Tennis Professionals Association ( IRTPA)/ Investing in Professionals (IiP) formal training and accreditation programme for pros. Before moving on to take up his position as Head Professional at Wellington, Dan Jones ran these courses at several different clubs. He now runs ‘Train the Trainer’ courses at Wellington to pass on to other professionals his in-depth knowledge of how to plan and execute junior group training sessions. Most of the country's professionals have attended and passed this important course. All pros who have attended to date have rated it highly. It has certainly increased their confidence and ability to be effective in enthusing junior tennis players.
For more information on the coaching techniques being taught on these courses please view the video clips on the Our Work - Junior Coaching tab.
TRAINING
TRAINING
Train the Trainer Programme for Club Junior Coordinators
The Dedanists' Foundation funds and runs a structured course to teach selected members of Real Tennis Clubs how to coach juniors. Similar courses are found in the world of Lawn Tennis and Squash.
The strategic idea underlying the JC course is that amateurs with an interest in junior tennis are able to provide valuable support to the Club Professionals in developing their own Junior Programmes. They can offer valuable cover if the Pro is ill or away, and it enables clubs to take ownership of their Junior Programmes and therefore become less reliant on Dedanists’ Foundation support for the long-term. After discussions with the T&RA, it was agreed that the Junior Coordinators who attend this course are covered by T&RA insurance.
The courses will provide:
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Valuable support to the professionals in developing their own junior programmes
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Offer valuable cover if the pro is away or ill, as continuity is vital to the success of the course.
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This would also help clubs take ownership of their junior programme and become less reliant on DF support for the long term.
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The Junior Coordinator would also help transport junior to fixtures
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Liaise with other JC's to discuss ideas and promotions
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Offer valuable support to club professionals and junior development.
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JC's may also provide valuable experience such as marketing, sales, promotion or other skill sets
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All JC's would have to have insurance and DBS certification.
FUNDING
INSPIRE
CLUB
SUPPORT
Joint Initiative with the T&RA
In 2022, Paul Weaver, approached the Tennis & Rackets Association (T&RA) and the Dedanists' Foundation to discuss ways of working together to increase junior participation in Real Tennis. So together, a plan was hatched to offer more than 2000 T&RA members, a chance for their children/grandchildren to have a free lesson at their nearest Real Tennis court over school holiday periods.
The offer would be funded by the Dedanists’ Foundation and was open to all newcomers to the game under the age of 18. The response was tremendous with 24 youngsters being signed up in just a few days for a free lesson to take place during the Christmas school holidays. A total of 10 Real Tennis clubs around the country were involved. Not only did this initiative allow 24 youngsters the chance to experience our game for the first time, but it also opened up a conversation about junior tennis with some clubs that had not previously been very involved with juniors.
The T&RA were delighted with the success and were keen to work with Paul to replicate similar junior initiatives in the future. The intention was to fund any similar initiatives on a 50-50 basis between the T&RA and the Dedanists' Foundation. As a result, this process has been repeated for all school holiday periods in 2023/24.
Many of the clubs involved have used this initiative and the juniors that came forward as a basis to form brand-new junior sections at their clubs. They are keen to make sure that the initial free lesson is not just a one-off visit. So, as well as being very popular with parents, these initiatives have also been very well received by the Real Tennis professionals. As a result of these initiatives, more than 100 youngsters have experienced Real Tennis for the first time and the feeling is that we are in the process of creating a whole new future generation of players.
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TOURNAMENTS
SPONSORSHIP
GRANTS
Applying For A Grant
GRANTS
We work with clubs who have existing programmes for young people or wish to develop such programmes. We generally aim to fund half of the cost of each programme and look to the participating club to contribute the remainder "in kind" by providing the court and professionals time.
We anticipate that any programme qualifying for a grant is likely to include the following elements:
a. A clear plan for outreach to schools and other youth- based institutions in the club's community;
b. A professionally organised and implemented programme of instruction and other activities for young people;
c. Clear arrangements for the provision of equipment, club facilities, transport and supervision of the young people; and
d. A well-organised Junior Section of the club with allocated court time (in addition to time allocated to the Foundation's programme), appropriately subsidised membership and court fees and the appointment of Junior Coordinator.
Although we believe that it is desirable to allow clubs considerable flexibility in developing their own approach to fit local circumstances, in addition to meeting the qualifying requirements set out above, all participating clubs will be required to sign up to a "contract" with the Foundation where, in return for grants and Train the Trainer programmes, which includes:
a. Guarantee to devote three hours a week of suitable court time and associated instruction by an appropriately qualified professional to the programme;
b. Appoint a Junior Coordinator within the club to administer and oversee a Junior programme;
c. Create a Junior section with appropriate court fees and membership rates and dedicated junior court time (over and above time allocated to the Foundation's programme);
d. Allow the professional and Junior representation suitable resources within the club to ensure the success of the programme;
e. Facilitate participation by their juniors National Junior competitions.
f. Ensure that, as necessary, the club provides other facilities needed to participate in the programmes and meets all statutory and other requirements, such as DBS checks.
If you think you have a project which fits these criteria, then please fill in the application form which can be found below and send it to Josh Farrall at josh@dedanistsfoundation.org
Application Form