Revealed: Harrogate school is LTA’s ‘School of the Year in the North of England’

The incredible accolade has been awarded to Ashville College for the way it is opening up tennis and bringing new players and fans to the game.

This independent Harrogate school’s curriculum is 100% inclusive and includes both mini tennis and tennis for a minimum of 12 weeks.

Pupils are given the opportunity to train for their Tennis Leaders’ Award and there are extra sessions staged after school.

More than 130 senior pupils and 50 junior pupils take advantage of this to play tennis at least one evening a week.

The end result is that the school has several players on both county and regional training programmes, as well a player on the national pathway who has just received his first international call-up.

Ashville’s Head of Tennis, Sophie Cousins, paid tribute to players of all ages for the way they had embraced the sport and taken their skills to new heights.

“There is no shortage of home-grown tennis talent at Ashville.” she said.

“Tennis is a great sport for life and is at the forefront of our PE and games curriculum throughout the entire year.

“With no fewer than six hard courts and nine temporary courts, all our pupils get a fantastic opportunity to experience tennis.

“The sport is also ideal in helping pupils develop key skills, such as confidence, self-esteem, problem-solving and decision-making.”

Among the other core strengths of Ashville College’s tennis programme are its competitions, which continue to grow.

It organises intra-house tennis matches for every year group, involving no fewer than 224 senior and 64 junior pupils where players experience singles, doubles and mixed formats.

There are also social tournaments for parents, friends, grandparents and pupils to promote tennis as a sport for the whole family.

Scott Lloyd, Chief Executive of the LTA, praised Ashville College’s support for increasing access to tennis at the grassroots level.

He said: “We are delighted to celebrate the school’s amazing dedication to the game and all it does for the community.”