Wivenhoe tennis club

 

Wivenhoe Tennis Club is a small, friendly club with a big heart. In 2001 we were the grateful recipient of a substantial grant from Sport England which enabled four superb floodlit all weather courts to be built at the Broad Lane Sports Ground. This resulted from tremendous work by the club committee and the Wivenhoe & District Sporting Facilities Trust with support from Colchester Borough Council. The new courts were completed in September 2001. In 2012, with the aid of a grant from Wivenhoe Town Council and Colchester Borough Council, we were able to purchase a new clubhouse, greatly improving the viewing and social facilities for the club.

Our facilities are very well maintained. The courts were cleaned and re-painted in spring 2024, at which time four pickleball courts were added thanks to a grant from Colchester Borough Council. We have also just had our floodlights replaced, replacing the energy-hungry halogen lamps with more environmentally friendly LEDs. As well as seeing use in our winter club sessions, they allow us to run a Winter League for local tennis clubs.

We have a qualified coach and offer coaching at all levels to both youngsters and adults, either in groups or for individuals. In 2005, we started our own inter-club Winter League at the club, and this has enabled members from our club and many surrounding ones to enjoy match play all year round. We also field several teams in various summer leagues so you can play competitive tennis if you wish at any standard.

2023 was an especially successful year for the club, with our men's team winning the Premier Division of the C&D League unbeaten, our ladies' team winning the First Division, also unbeaten, and our mixed team winning the Premier Division. In the LTA Essex Youth League and National League, our ladies' team won the Women's Open Division 1, while our men's and mixed teams finished second in the Open Division 2 and the Mixed Open Mixed Division 1 respectively. This means that 2024 will see our ladies' team will be playing in the National Club League regional division. Our 10 and under team finished third in the 10&U Mixed Division 2.

The club has in place a Child Protection Policy and a Health and Safety Policy. We take safeguarding very seriously, both for children and adults.

Part of the club's undertaking when accepting the Sport England grant was to make tennis available to everyone. The funding for our pickleball courts was also to encourage people to play the sport. Our courts are therefore available for the public to hire, which costs £15 per court per hour. To book a court and make payment via BACS please contact Mark Wallington on 07826 528338, preferably by text and giving as much notice as possible. The income from this goes towards maintaining the high standard of the courts.

We actively welcome new members. We also would welcome anyone wishing to learn how to play or wishing to return to the game to contact us so we can help you enjoy this wonderful sport.

You can find us on Facebook and instagram.

We are a British Tennis registered venue.

Web page maintained by Adrian F. Clark