A HELENSBURGH sports club is holding an open day next weekend to showcase its facilities to potential new members as the new outdoor sporting season approaches.

Craighelen Lawn Tennis and Squash Club’s day-long event takes place on Saturday, March 24 and features a series of taster sessions aimed at encouraging local people of all ages to get fit, and stay fit, through sport.

And by all ages they really do mean all ages: when the Advertiser received a guided tour of the club last week, among the tennis players on court was Jim McGowan, who turns 78 later this year, while the oldest member of Chris Bowman Fitness, the gym attached to the club, is a sprightly 89.

But it’s not just about older players: the open day next Saturday, which runs from 10am onwards, will feature junior tennis taster sessions as the club aims to introduce more young people to the game and perhaps, one day, to follow in the footsteps of Sir Andy Murray and his brother Jamie.

Craighelen’s treasurer, Rob Colston, said: “We’re a very friendly club. We’ve always had an ‘open door’ policy, and we’re in a good and healthy state, but we’re always keen to attract new people.

“Two of our five tennis courts have recently been rejuvenated, and the difference is unbelievable.“Tennis has a very traditional image but the high profile of the sport in the media means it’s doing very well. our next big project is to refurbish our squash courts. We’ve been getting a lot more squash players in over recent months, but more wear and tear brings more work.

“Squash is becoming more and more popular with young people and working people coming in for perhaps 45 minutes or an hour after school or after work and going away really feeling as if they’ve burned plenty of calories.”

In addition, next Saturday’s open day will feature a number of taster sessions under the guidance of Chris Bowman, who combines his gym and fitness class work with junior tennis coaching throughout the week.

Chris is running ‘boot camp’ and HIIT Step tasters (HIIT, if you haven’t heard the phrase before, stands for ‘high intensity interval training’) during the open day, and is also hoping to attract young tennis players who might be interested in his weekly coaching sessions for tots (age 3-5), mini (6-9) and junior (10+) players.

“It’s a great partnership,” Rob added. “We are a tennis club but having Chris here too works very well for both him and the club.”