The Jack Petchey Foundation
The Jack Petchey Foundation, established in 1999, gives grants to programmes and projects that benefit young people aged 11-25. The Foundation, focusing on London and Essex, is keen to help young people take advantage of opportunities and play a full part in society. The major focus of the work is the 'Achievement Award Scheme' and since it has been established has awarded grants totalling over £65million.
The SHLTC takes part in the Jack Petchey Achievement Awards scheme for juniors (11-25yrs). This has proved a great success, giving the juniors something to aim for and the funds to buy the things they want for the club. Each year the club votes for a Tennis Leader who becomes the club’s Honorary Captain. Visit the Jack Petchey website to learn more. The following achievement award winners shows how far you can go with the right attitude, hard work and lots of practice!
Jack Petchey Achievement Award Winners:
James Robertson (November 2011)
James has been a valued member of the coaching team for some time now, since completing his Tennis Leaders Award. Although he completed his 18 hours volunteering to achieve the award quite a while ago, James continues to help out on Tuesday evenings 5-6pm with our Mini Red (8&U) squad. The children respond to James really well and have showed signs of improvement through his leadership skills. James is not afraid to correct the children with specific teaching points and his discipline with the children is very good. His time management and communication skills are first class and he works well with the other tennis leaders and the rest of the coaching team. James continues to play himself and regularly attends lessons once a week. In the future, James is looking to assist as an umpire during our junior competitions. A much deserved winner of the Jack Petchey Award.
Tom Pinsent (June 2011)
Tom 'The Bomb' has been attending coaching sessions on a Tuesday evening for a number of years now and has progressed to our 'Top Gun' group! He has represented the club at 16&U level and supports our competition days to try to improve his tennis rating. Tom is also a valued member of our tennis leader team, proving to be reliable and inspirational to the club. The junior members have taken to Tom and regularly cheer for him when he is demonstrating, and gave him his nickname! Tom is a pleasure to work with and always has a smile on his face. He is always positive and is a great role model to the junior players. Well done Tom, you thoroughly deserve this award.
Louisa Walsh (March 2011)
Louisa is a much deserved winner of this award, not only for her continued improvement as a player, but also as a tennis leader and role model within the club. Louisa continues to attend coaching sessions on a regular basis and is determined to improve her current rating. This was helped when she won the U16 Girls Club Tournament last year! As well as training on a weekly basis, Louisa continues to represent the club in the AEGON Junior Leagues and always plays with intelligence and passion. Louisa also completed her Tennis Leaders Award towards the end of last year and has volunteered well over 40 hours at the club, through umpiring Timed Tennis Competitions and assisting the junior squads on Saturday mornings. Her enthusiasm, commitment and desire to work with the juniors always shines through. It is hoped Louisa will go on and complete her Level 1 Tennis Coaching Award, as the coaching team feel she has all the right attributes to develop as a coach. Louisa is a joy to have around the club and the coaching team would like to take this opportunity to wish her all the best in the future.
Matt Snow (October 2010)
Matt has developed both his tennis game and his coaching style during 2010/11. Matt is always willing to motivate the mini players and takes responsibility for organising warm ups, matches and tidying away equipment at the end of sessions. He uses his initiative and is a joy to work with. He’s also a great role model to the younger players and is one of the kids’ favourite leaders. Matt is regularly cheered when demonstrating points, even when playing against Phil! Matt's game has gone from strength to strength. He is a regular squad member of the Club's U16 Boys Team and will play again for the club throughout the winter months. Matt became the first Tennis Leader to achieve 50 volunteer hours within the club and received a small prize from the coaching team in recognition.
Jon Pitchford (April 2010)
Jon has been a regular member of the Junior Coaching Programme and has improved his rating significantly. He now holds a 9.2 rating, one of the highest ratings the club has throughout the Junior Members. This has been achieved through hard work and dedication, along with attending coaching sessions and matchplay events on a regular basis. Jon has repeatedly represented the club at U16 level and regularly plays and wins the majority of his singles matches, hence his rise in the ratings! Jon is also looking to begin his Tennis Leaders Course and Head Coach is delighted about this as he sees Jon as a vital part of the club and local community. He looks forward to working with and mentoring Jon so he can become even more heavily involved within the club set up.
Robert Ratcliffe (October 2009)
The club is extremely lucky to have not only the current Club Men's Singles Champion, but also a full time travelling tennis player available to offer his valuable experience and knowledge to the juniors. Rob helps out at the Saturday morning junior coaching sessions as well as volunteering his time during the Club's Open Days. He brings a real professionalism to the club and the juniors look up to him as a role model. Rob is friendly and outgoing and with his tennis expertise he has a great opportunity to become a successful coach himself, once his playing days are over - he is a great asset to the club.
Ben Fisher (July 2009)
Ben regularly attends junior coaching sessions and gets on well with everyone in his squad. He is also a member of SHLTC U18 Boys Team and has represented the club on a number of occasions. Ben helps out with the Mini Red session and the children have really appreciated his input to the lessons. They all look up to Ben as a role model which he excels in. Head Coach can rely on Ben to lead the warm up or assist with drills and he will give 100% concentration and effort. Ben also helped out in the half term holidays when the club ran competitions and was out on court umpiring for hours on end! It was a tedious job but someone had to do it and Ben relished the responsibility and his enthusiasm rubbed off on to the competitors. Ben is currently looking to take his Tennis Leaders Course, hopefully in June, and will be a welcome addition to the 'official' coaching team being built at the club.
Oli Taylor (March 2009)
Oli is working towards his Tennis Leaders course and has been assisting the Head Coach with Junior sessions. Oli has been a great help, often leading the warm ups and cool down/fun game sessions. He has built a great rapport with the younger Juniors, with the majority always wanting to hit with him during the lessons! He has also worked well with, and earned the respect of the older Juniors (only a year or two younger than himself!). Oli is keen and eager to learn and hopefully he will pass his Level 1 Tennis Assistants Course and move on with his tennis coaching qualifications.
Clover Whipps-Townsend (December 2008)
Clover has been a keen member of the club since she was young and is now one of the best female players in the Club, often representing the Club in league matches and recently winning the Club Mixed Doubles Tournament. She is always happy and enthusiastic and always volunteers her time to help out on Club days including Open Days and tournaments. She is a very popular and likeable member of the club and her positive attitude makes her a great role model for the younger club members.
John Woodcock (September 2008)
John has been a keen member of the tennis club since he was a very young boy and recently won the Club Junior Singles Tournament. He is always happy and willing to help around the club and volunteers on a Monday evening to help the Coach with the Mini Red sessions. He is a very popular and likable member of the club.
Luke House (June 2008)
Luke currently assists the Club Coach with the Junior tennis sessions and has a fantastic rapport with the children. In addition to being an excellent player, Luke is an extremely popular member of the club having a friendly, helpful and supportive attitude to everyone regardless of their aptitude. He continuously demonstrates good sportsmanship and has proved to be an ideal role model to the junior and adult members.
