WTA AND MORGAN STANLET SUPPORT LEGACY

News and Stories by Nino Severino

The wonderful relationship we have developed with the WTA and Morgan Stanley has delivered outcomes beyond our expectations. Our 2024 summer programme has rolled out a programme across 6 schools in the Suffolk region, with thousands of school pupils being introduced to our wonderful sport of tennis.

The schedule has been relentless, with a 5-day programme at the bigger schools such as Sidegate Primary School and Britannia Primary School. But every second has been worth it, with the incredible feedback from the schools being our reward, with teachers telling us every day about how much the children have enjoyed the sessions.

The schools we have visited over the summer weeks have included the following:

Sidegate Primary School

St Marks Primary School

The Oaks Primary School

Britannia Primary School

The Beeches Primary School

Hillside Primary School

We invest a lot of time, resource, skill and expertise into the process of creating our programmes, ensuring that all the children will benefit, physically, mentally and emotionally.

All the sessions start with a dynamic warm up, working through the body chain, lower and upper body, ensuring, from a physical perspective all the children are fully warmed up. We also integrate fun games and drills into this warmup phase.

This is followed by a dodge ball game, which the children absolutely love. This game ensures that they are ‘fired up’ and their reactions are stimulated. After the dodge ball game, we take them through hand and eye co-ordination drills, the children are very connected with being competitive, and always find it fun when we incorporate the competition facet of any drill.

Afterwards we then begin to incorporate the racket, first focusing on ‘touch and feel’, then moving onto the control of the ball through tennis drills. We ensure that all the drills are age and standard appropriate, thisexperience is very much about building confidence, as well as introducing tennis to all the children.

After the tennis specific work, its time for a fun game, we normally finish with the parachute, the children always get excited when the parachute is pulled out of the bag. We make this drill super competitive, and its one of the most popular parts of our visit. The parachute is colourful, it can be used in so many ways, we always incorporate the tennis balls within the game, ensuring that the children are running, chasing, lunging, bending, using every muscle in the body, and at the same time having lots, and lots of fun.

Taking the time to deliver positive messaging is very important to the team, at every opportunity we deliver positive messaging that will be a very important part of the experience. Our messaging encourages the children to be positive, and to think about building confidence. To be kind and considerate to each other, and to enjoy life to the full, thinking about gratitude, and enjoying all the positives in their young lives.

Our legacy mission continues, our commitment and relentlessness to Elena’s memory is undying, with the support of the WTA, Morgan Stanley, and our National Governing Body, the LTA, we will continue to focus on our objectives, and continue to keep effecting young children’s lives through our wonderful game of tennis.