The LTA Youth Tennis Leaders course is designed for young people aged 11-18 years to help develop skills to support on-court and off-court tennis activities.

We spoke to Marina Lavarello (Brondesbury Tennis Club) and Fran North (Totteridge Tennis Club) about running the Tennis Leaders Course. It can be run by any LTA Accredited + Coach or PE Teacher.

1. How many courses do you run per year? How much work does it involve?

Marina - I run 1 or 2 courses per year. Each course probably needs 2/3 hours prep, then the delivery time of 5 hours. 

Fran - The tennis leaders course I ran on Sunday was the first one I’ve done but I will plan to run 2 or 3 a year now. I spoke to some other coaches who had previously run some courses regarding how the day should run and what to charge. I would say I spent around half a day(6-7 hours) planning the admin and content/drills/games. Then dealing with parent bookings, setting up on the day, probably an extra 2 hours. 

2. How do you advertise the course?

Marina-  I advertise through my database which is built up of club members and parents of players that attend our programmes/camps. 

Fran - - I marketed firstly to our club’s juniors, with another head coach at the neighbouring club, then online on Instagram too. 

3.What benefits do you find to your programme in running the courses?

Marina- It is a huge benefit. It keeps our teens motivated to keep improving their tennis, but also keeps them engaged at the club. We use leaders to help with our groups and camps so there is opportunity for them to ‘work’ and get paid. Kids love the leaders as they are fun and relatable and its always useful to have extra pair of hands, particularly with the little ones. The course also often forms part of their DofE programme and they can put it on their UCAS/ CV's so mutually beneficial. 

Fran - The reason I ran the course was because some of the teenagers in our clubs groups were interested in some summer time work. With most of them being until 16years old they can’t take their level 1 yet, but this was a great first step for them which will help them feel comfortable if they do go on to take the course when they’re old enough. It will give me and my coaching team an extra pair of hands for support delivering junior term time tennis and camps. It also gives the attendees great life skills. 

Interested in running a course at your venue - Click for More information here.