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LTA Donates Rackets to Sheffield Charity
Fri 16 Oct 2020 16:00
The LTA has donated a range of tennis racquets from its commercial partner Babolat to Sheffield Futures. Sheffield Futures is a charity dedicated to helping young people to reach their full potential and achieve the best out of life, whatever their starting point. The contribution of equipment is an extension of their collaboration with Marcus Method, a Sheffield based visual artist and designer with a passion for tennis.
The LTA partnered with Marcus for the Mark Your Ball project, encouraging new and old players to express themselves and celebrate their individualism by personalising tennis balls. Marcus works closely with Sheffield Futures on community projects to help inspire members to enter into the art world as part of his vision to widen accessibility. His work with Sheffield Futures includes painting several of the youth clubs in his signature vibrant design and holding artistic workshops.
With participation numbers continuing to soar across Sheffield, the LTA hopes the donation will encourage even more players take the first steps on their tennis journey. Over the past year, the LTA has seen a 65% rise in court bookings with over 2000 new players taking advantage of the city’s fantastic park venues alone and staying active within their community. There has been £354,000 invested in court and park site refurbishment over the past five years from Sheffield City Council and the LTA. Building on the rising success and popularity of the sport, the LTA is currently working on an exciting new project to create a sporting hub and café at Hillsborough Park which will include refurbished tennis courts, padel courts, state of the art flood lighting and a range of sports and activities to be enjoyed by all. The investment in facilities across the city, as well as initiatives like the racquet donation to Sheffield Futures, will aim to inspire a new wave of players to pick up a racquet and get on court all year around.
Harry Loy, a young person who attends Woodthorpe Youth Club said, “At the youth club we have played many sports. I believe that the sport equipment donations will raise awareness of tennis and may allow the young people to recognise the talent in which they might have.” A number of the youth at the club said that they hadn’t played the sport before but that the racket donation will help to get them involved in the game.
The artist, Marcus Method said, “A main driving force behind my work is the desire to create a unique visual identity while exploring themes that are of interest to me. The LTA’s Play Your Way campaign which aims to create a more inclusive world around tennis and celebrates individualism draws parallels with a big inspiration of mine. My work practices champion inclusivity in the art world and as a keen tennis player myself, I am excited to have helped facilitate the racquet donation with the LTA to encourage the youth at Sheffield Futures to pick up a racquet and start to play.”
The LTA encourages everyone to pick up a racket and #PlayYourWay - playing where you want and how you want. Play Your Way is an invitation to anyone and everyone, creating a more inclusive world around tennis that celebrates individualism and welcomes all styles of playing. As part of the notion of ‘tennis opened up’ the LTA wants to encourage people of all abilities, age and background to pick up a racket and play tennis on their terms and they hope that the racquet donation will help to fulfill this goal. The donation to Sheffield Futures champions the Play your Way ethos by introducing the youth to the sport and providing them with their own equipment to play.
