Juniper Green Tennis Club’s two courts, which have been at the heart of Juniper Green for over 100 years, have been transformed so that members can now enjoy the use of all-weather surfaces all year round, and associated infrastructure has been significantly revamped.
The effort was spearheaded by Juniper Green resident and retired banker Paul Murphy.
Faced with finding £100,000 to carry out the refurbishment work, the club’s first reaction, Paul confirmed, was: “Good grief. This is going to take a long time. Jumble sales and coffee mornings are not going to get us to that figure any time soon.”
Bids for grants from sportscotland and the National Lottery Community Fund met with no success. However, the Lawn Tennis Association confirmed that it would provide £50,000 from its national Park Tennis Project on condition that the club find the other half of the funding required. A major difficulty was that, with the LTA’s programme due to come to an end by the close of the year, the club had to raise that money by the end of October. That was in August last year. Astonishingly, through cash donations, interest-free loans and the money from five-year memberships, the £50,000 target was met.
The next stage was several months of redevelopment to transform the courts. “The playing surface has been completely changed,” Paul said. “We’ve gone from blaes to tarmacadam. Allied to that, new fencing has been erected around the premises and we have a new smart entrance gate.” The aims, he continued, are “more people playing tennis, more local engagement, more use of the facility.”
The work has meant that the club’s tennis coach, Kenny Petrie, has been able to expand his range of coaching opportunities, including beginners classes and cardio tennis sessions. A free hour of tennis, aimed primarily at people who have never picked up a tennis racquet before, will shortly be launched on Sunday mornings with tennis equipment provided.
An official courts opening day will be announced shortly. “We would like it to be an authentic local community event,” Paul stated, “because the local community has supported and funded this project.”
In the meantime, the completely refurbished courts have been opened for play, and all previous members, from last year or further back, are invited to rejoin the club and enjoy the new facilities. Likewise, new members are very welcome to join this fun and friendly club and help to support a precious local sporting asset. Full details can be found at https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/JuniperGreenTennisCourts/Membership/Join
With the new courts opened, the club is now turning its attention to the next stage of regenerating the venue by organising essential repairs to the century-old wooden pavilion, and it will seek funding to preserve the pavilion for the future.
The club can be contacted at junipergreentennis@gmail.com or followed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/junipergreentennis