Tennis for Kids offers children, aged 4-11, the opportunity to fall in love with tennis, by taking part in a 6 session introductory course delivered by LTA Accredited coaches, across Great Britain.
Since its inception in 2016, over 60,000 kids have completed a TFK course!
We want to continue to grow Tennis For Kids and significantly increase the number of kids booking on to a course and falling in love with our sport.
To help achieve scale, here are some important changes;
1. Application no longer required
To help grow the number of coaches able to deliver TFK courses we are simplifying the process by removing the need to apply. All coaches will need to be Level 2 or above and have completed the training so they should be competent to deliver TFK courses.
2. Coach Training available online
In previous years coaches attended a TFK training day during February / March. Training to deliver TFK has now moved online meaning coaches can get trained up at any point during the year. It also means coaches won’t need to take time off / travel to attend a training day that they have already done in previous years. The training will remain FREE to all coaches.
If you were trained in 2018 the online training is optional, you can continue to upload and deliver Tennis for Kids courses providing all criteria is met. All other coaches will need to complete the training before being able to upload and deliver courses.
3. Coach Support
Coaches delivering TFK courses will receive the following support;
- Free online training (mandatory for new coaches)
- A centralised booking website to help administer / promote and manage courses (ClubSpark)*
- National marketing activity to support bookings
- Resources area including lesson plans and guidance documents
- Case Studies – How to have success with TFK
- Access to a closed TFK coaches Facebook group
- Resource packs including certificates, activity cards and stickers
- A bag of red balls**
Watch the video below to guide you through the process of uploading your course(s).
For Parents / Kids
For £25 (+£4.99 P&P) parents and children will receive the following;
- A website to easily find and book on to a local TFK course
- 6 coaching sessions delivered by a trained and Accredited coach
- Racket & ball set
- Personalised t-shirt
- Activity cards, lanyard, stickers, certificate (provided by you)
- A follow on promotional offer
4. Safeguarding
As recently communicated, all TFK courses must be delivered by a trained and Accredited coach. Furthermore, all TFK courses must be delivered at either a Registered Venue, an Educational Venue or a Community Venue that meets the LTA’s minimum safeguarding standards.
The LTA is committed to making sure all people involved in tennis in Britain can enjoy the sport in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment. We strongly believe this should be at the heart of everything we do and will be central to the continued success of programmes like Tennis for Kids.
5. Sustainability
To ensure TFK becomes a sustainable programme we will also be introducing some changes to the programme which you should be aware of. These are;
- Customers booking kids onto a TFK course will now pay £4.99 P&P for the racket & ball and t-shirt pack. Previously the LTA have covered the cost.
- The racket will remain high quality but may be unbranded
- To save costs, coaches will no longer receive free Team Kit. Accredited coaches can still access discounted kit via the Specialist Sport website
- Banners are no longer available and the promotional postcards will only be available online
We have heard so many amazing success stories with TFK with an incredible 98% of parents saying they were very satisfied with the coach and their child’s experience. As a result, almost 50% of kids completing a course are signing up to coaching programme or becoming a member of the club.
TFK is the best way to introduce new kids to the sport and has helped many coaches grow their programme and their business.
*Only those Coaches that are LTA accredited plus can access ClubSpark.
**Packs of red balls will be distributed to coaches (along with course resource packs) as long as stock lasts.