The WJTI is now administered and delivered by the Community Sport Team in collaboration with The Wimbledon Foundation. The WJTI Coaching Team, under the stewardship of our Community Head Coach, Chris Daw, have had a brilliant start to the academic year, delivering six-week tennis courses in eight schools in Wandsworth and Merton, reaching 1875 school children in the most disadvantaged parts of the borough. The programme focuses on schools with the highest pupil premium percentages and those children receiving free school meals.
We’ve had a busy time at AELTC Community Tennis Centre at Raynes Park delivering the WJTI weekly sessions with 379 players attending: this includes 75 new young players selected from the school outreach programme and now integrated into the WJTI weekly programming. These WJTI players are playing alongside the 450 paying Community Programme Players and 27 paying Club Members, creating a fantastic player base progressing, and improving week by week.
The programme continues to receive great feedback from the schools that we visit with over 90% respondents rating the impact on the pupils as excellent or very good.
We are currently recruiting a WJTI Manager to oversee the important Foundation programme.
Coaching Team
We currently have 4 ex-WJTI players on the coaching team at different stages of the coaching pathway.
In the photo above: from Left to Right:
Jack Lane, Joel Eboweme, Missy Cooper, Darren Stanford
- Jack Lane - joined the WJTI aged 11 – now a senior Level 4 coach
- Joel Eboweme – selected as a WJTI from primary school – Level 2 and hoping to take his Level 3 qualification.
- Missy Cooper – Level 2 LTA assistant coach
- Darren Stanford – one of the first members of the WJTI propgramme, over 20 years ago – now a Senior Level 4 coach
The programme is upskilling our older players with Level 1 coaching qualifications providing us with additional support, and players a pathway to employment in tennis.
