LTA Partners With Scouts For Youth Participation
The LTA has announced a new three-year partnership with the Scouts, which will see the national governing body for tennis becoming a supporter of the Beavers Sport Activity Badge.
The partnership will use the LTA Youth Start programme, and will see Beavers participants complete the LTA-approved courses on the platform as part of their Sports Activity Badge.
Beaver Leaders will be given access to a collection of tennis activities included in the programme, which was recently launched by the LTA and is designed to help more children from all backgrounds and ability levels, take part in the sport.
In order to gain the Sports Activity Badge, Beaver Scouts will need to play sport with other Beavers in their Colony, understand the rules of that sport and carry on that activity for at least six weeks. They will then be required to show the rest of the Colony the skills they have learnt from taking part and demonstrated the correct use of the the equipment required to take part in that sport.
“This is an exciting partnership and we’re very pleased to be collaborating with the Scouts as we both work to help young people from all backgrounds get active,” said Sam Richardson, LTA Head of Tennis Products & Programmes.
“Tennis is an amazing sport that can be played by anyone regardless of age, background, ability or disability and has unique physical and mental health benefits.
“Our LTA Youth programme has been created with world leading expertise and creates a clear path that supports kids’ enjoyment of tennis, progression and an informal environment within which kids will thrive. We are already seeing how this complements the fantastic work of Beaver Leaders across the country, and we’re looking forward to building on this over the next three years.”
Simon Carter, Assistant Director, Scouts added: “Coming out of lockdown it’s important to make sure that young people have as many opportunities to grow, develop and learn as many new skills as possible. This partnership with LTA enables thousands of our youth Members to try a sport that’s new to them and to keep fit and healthy. A Beaver Scout that picks up a tennis racket for the first time this summer may go on to be a Wimbledon champion in the 2030s.”
The LTA says it has a target of inspiring 10% of children in Britain to play tennis once a week by 2023, while the LTA Youth programme aims to help them develop a whole range of physical and neurological abilities including balance, coordination and fine motor skills, with activities involving decision-making and strengthening hand-eye coordination.
