What is the Serving Aces Project for?
BLTC looked to broaden its player base and build on its community club ethos by offering targeted coaching to specific groups including children with special educational needs, disabled members of the community, foreign nationals new to the area and senior citizens to help keep older players active both physically and mentally. Additional club members attended courses to gain an accredited coaching qualification.
How we will spend the money raised?
To achieve the aim of coaching provision for the targeted groups above, we will need more of our members to receive the training required to obtain an accredited coaching qualification. 3 of our members (Nick, Eleanor and Ethan) completed a Tennis Ireland Level One coaching course in Belfast over 4 weeks from mid-April. This course included a training module about basic skills required when coaching people with disabilities such as ADHD and autism. Tennis Ireland will also provide a one day Tennis Leaders course which should be of interest to older juniors or to parents who may be prepared to assist BLTC coaches on a volunteer basis. The money raised by the Serving ACES Project paid for the above coaching course fees and subsequently paid the coaches as they helped to advance the tennis skills of the targeted groups. We offered various free coaching courses over a six week period with each session lasting approximately one hour.
The remaining money will be spent on a weatherproof noticeboard and to purchase attractive and sturdy outdoor seating which would encourage and enable our members to spend time socialising with each other and any visitors to the club when not actually on court playing tennis. Any remaining or additional money raised above our target will be used to provide an equipment store as our current storage boxes are too small for our needs and falling apart. We would also like to buy protective screening for the fencing around our courts due to their exposed location.
Community Impact
BLTC already draws its members from a varied cross-section of people within the community but we have never provided coaching specifically for older people or foreign nationals nor have we run coaching programmes tailored either to children with special educational needs or people with disabilities.
In doing so we would be introduced additional groups within society to the benefits and enjoyment which can be derived from playing tennis. Some of our existing members encouraged their parents to attend the course for senior citizens. We contacted local schools about the courses for children with special educational needs and many were very keen to avail of this opportunity for their pupils during the school summer term. We were in touch with the Ballymena Ethnic Forum and an interest was shown in tennis coaching for foreign nationals new to the area by the local Ukrainian and Filipino communities.
On 9th June 2023 we successfully raised £15,015 ( + est. £1822.50 ) with 79 supporters in 49 days
Many thanks to all those who contributed to the success of this, your generosity was very much appreciated.
All details of the project can be found on the projects crowd funding page.
