Club News

BSTC IS AWARDED “TENNIS CLUBMARK”

I have some GREAT news!

The Club has achieved Clubmark status and we are one of the first in Avon.

Tennis Clubmark is the LTA’s club accreditation programme. Achieving Tennis Clubmark means that the LTA endorses and supports the tennis programmes that we deliver on court and the policies and procedures that we have in place off court. The LTA believes that achieving high standards in these areas is crucial in ensuring that your club is managed effectively and that we provide a safe environment for junior members to enjoy and play tennis. Achieving Tennis Clubmark shows that our Club programmes, policies and procedures are all in line with best practice.
Great news.

Over the summer we’ve been working hard to make sure that we achieved Clubmark status and now all that hard work’s paid off. What’s more is that we are certainly one of the first, if not THE first, all volunteer run club in Avon to achieve this high level of accreditation! Other clubs that I know who have achieved this are the likes of Coombe Dingle, David Lloyd, Bath Uni. and Lansdown, all of whom have full-time staff so we’ve done well there. Just to be up there with clubs like that shows just how good your club is…..

But what is Clubmark I hear you ask and why is it important to us as a Club????

Well, in addition to what I’ve said earlier, it has many other benefits. Clubmark was introduced in 2002 by Sport England and was designed to:

 develop a set of common criteria to ensure that consistent best practice and minimum operating standards are delivered in accredited clubs whatever the sport
 empower parents and carers when choosing a club for their children
 ensure that Clubmark accredited clubs are recognised
 provide a forum to support good practice in sports clubs working with children and young people

Clubmark is being implemented across 24 sports. Each National Governing Body administers its own version of Clubmark (including standardised criteria) and the overall programme is supported by Sport England. Tennis Clubmark is the LTA’s quality accreditation endorsement for clubs. It has been built on the standard Clubmark criteria and customised to ensure that it is relevant to tennis.

As well as being a quality accreditation for our policies, procedures and club management it means that we are actively delivering appropriate tennis opportunities to all players of all abilities, providing regular competitive programmes (especially for juniors), ensuring the well-being of young tennis players, enthusing players to enjoy tennis, perform to the best of their ability and that we are identifying and supporting the development of the most talented tennis players.

We believe that clubs who have been awarded Tennis Clubmark status will see many tangible benefits which include:

 Club development; the foundation of any club is its structure for young tennis players. By encouraging and attracting young tennis members then we will build a strong future
 Increased membership; addressing issues like opportunities for all and child protection gives parents and carers confidence when choosing a club for their children
 “Staff” development; as part of Tennis Clubmark we receive help if we want it in developing the skills of both our coaches and the club volunteers
 Raised profile; now that we are Tennis Clubmark accredited we will be listed on a national database and in other directories (e.g. Mini Tennis website) to help us attract new members and to grow
 Access to funding; because it has become such a well known accreditation programme many external funders (e.g. Aegon) are stipulating that the clubs that they work with need to achieve Clubmark.

So what will the Club receive as a result of achieving Tennis Clubmark??

In the short term, as well as the kudos of the achievement, we will get a Tennis Clubmark certificate and plaque that will be displayed at the Club; we’ll get permission to use the Tennis Clubmark logo on our literature and website and to display the logo in the clubhouse; we’ll also get free publicity on the national Clubmark website www.clubmark.org.uk

BUT…..
the million dollar benefit (as well as the kudos and the fact that we can all rest assured that the Club’s policies, procedures, tennis programmes and club management are up there with the best of them) of achieving Tennis Clubmark is that it makes us eligible for LTA funding! Rest assured, Mark and I are already salivating at the prospect of major LTA funding for the two big projects that the Committee are considering at the moment.

ALL GREAT NEWS EH!!

One final thing on this great achievement for BSTC and I can do no better than drop in a paragraph from Roger Draper, the Chief Executive of the LTA.

“Clubs that have joined the scheme are finding it well worth it. By having recognised standards of child protection, coaching, equity and good management they find it easier to attract and keep members, improve the club’s profile and build for the future.”

Sounds good to me!

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