IN a fantastic week for Scottish tennis, Helensburgh Tennis Club is embarking on ambitious projects to get more people in the area playing the sport.

The club has been awarded £700 by Awards for All to provide free indoor junior tennis coaching at Hermitage Academy from Saturday, February 13 for six weeks.

Places will be given on a first come, first served basis. The award will help towards the cost of coaches, hall hire and equipment. Session one for four to six years runs from 10am to 10.50am and session two for seven to 10 years olds from 11am to 11.50am and is free of charge.

To book a place email bobby.kerr@tennishelensburgh.org.uk.

The course will focus on the tennis A,B,C’s - Agility, Balance and Coordination. Each week head coach John Wilson will concentrate on a different skill including forehands, backhands, volleys and serves, movement and competition. This is an ideal introduction to the sport.

The sessions are aimed at children who have not played before or have not played for a while.

Junior convenor Bobby Kerr said: “We are grateful to Awards for All for supporting our application. This will allow us to provide free coaching from our very experienced coaches and introduce them to the great sport of tennis.

“With the success of Helensburgh’s own Gordon Reid and the Murray Brothers, Helensburgh Tennis Club’s goal this year to get as many people playing tennis as possible”

“We have big plans for the new season which starts in April and with our partner CBF Tennis, which provides our coaching services, we will be joining the Lawn Tennis Association’s Davis Cup Legacy initiative to get 1,000 coaches to deliver 6,000 hours of free coaching to 10,000 children across the U.K.”

The club will shortly be announcing its plans to give free coaching in the new season and has also frozen junior membership fees for the third year in a row.

Bobby said “It’s never been a better time to be a member of Helensburgh Tennis Club. Members will enjoy a host of benefits from free coaching for adults and juniors to fun days and competitive play.”

The club’s head coach John Wilson has been driving up standards by holding training indoors at the Allander centre in Bearsden over the winter for our under 18 and under 12 squads. With seven floodlit courts and two mini courts, Helensburgh Tennis Club has a long tradition of producing great tennis players as well as being a safe and enjoyable place to play.