Sidmouth Tennis Club basked in sunshine last Saturday as they welcomed people to come and try their newly refurbished courts and see what the club had to offer on a well supported Open Day, writes Lesley Cranston.

Sidmouth Herald: The 2014 Sidmouth Tennis Club Open DayThe 2014 Sidmouth Tennis Club Open Day (Image: Archant)

The morning session was given over to the juniors and it was great to see so many youngsters from five to 15-years-of-age taking part regardless of whether they had ever held a racquet before!

The youngsters had plenty of assistance as three coaches were on hand under the stewardship of chief coach, Ben Elliott, who had devised a variety of activities to keep them entertained and interested.

It was thirsty work and juice and biscuits disappeared at a rapid rate, but it all went to show that mini tennis really can be a fun sport.

The afternoon saw the spotlight fall on adults. The club’s coaching team had prepared a few ‘treats’ for them in the form of cardio-tennis, a mixture of exercise and racquet skills with music to keep them on their toes. A few red faces were to be seen after this event, but there were also lots of smiles and laughter too.

The day was rounded off by an American style tournament, a round-robin event in which each player keeps a personal tally of the number of games they win, happily, one of the club’s leading juniors saw off his more senior opponents having won the most points.

It wasn’t all happening on court either, face-painting courtesy of Julia, the club’s new bar manger, was popular and not just with the children!

A few tried their hand at Jenga whilst most simply chatted in the sunshine.

It certainly proved overall to be a good day out and a big thanks go to the coaching team of Ben, Mike King and Dave Taylor for all their inventiveness.