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#UniTennis Round-Up – Edition 13

10/09/2018
#UniTennis Round-Up – Edition 13

This is the #UniTennis Round Up – your bi-weekly digest of the best news stories from tennis in the Higher Education sector within the UK. In this – the 13th edition of the round up – we’ll recap a fantastic National University Training – the Tennis Foundation’s largest annual university tennis workforce development event. You can also find out more about the Student Tennis Network for the 2018-19 academic year and there are a number of job opportunities open, too!

National University Training


Thursday 6 September 2018 saw the return of the UK university tennis system’s biggest workforce development event to Loughborough University.


The Tennis Foundation’s National University Training 2018 welcomed over 70 university students and staff from the university tennis network to learn more about the academic year ahead, an opportunity to network with colleagues in the sector and to celebrate and discuss the continual developments within British university tennis over the past year and beyond.


A day filled with engaging workshops and seminars included insight into university competition offers for 2018-19, the Student Tennis Network and maximizing the effectiveness of universities’ welcome weeks and fresher’s fairs and much more!


This year’s training culminated with a partnership day on Friday 7 September, where a smaller group of Tennis Foundation partnership universities share best practice on workforce programme development among other topics. The day closed with a brilliant on court session led by GB university student team captain – Alistair Higham – and team psychologist – Julie Blackwood – discussing and putting into practice the core values of a team that has won 6 major medals at international university competitions in the last 3 years.

Student Tennis Network

The Student Tennis Network, now in its second year of delivery, was also launched at National University Training. A workshop hosted by Paul Cummins, Further Education and Education Projects Manager at the Tennis Foundation, gave a valuable insight into the programme’s successful inaugural year in 2017-18 and set the scene for the application process for 2018-19 programme.
Click here for more information on the programme over the past year and look out on Tennis Foundation social media and our website for further details on how to apply for a place on the scheme for the coming academic year.

Preparations for 2018-19 University Competition Underway

Great to see so many universities beginning their preparations for the 2018-19 competitive season, returning to university for pre-season or travelling on pre-season tours.


We’re very much looking forward to the start of the 2018-19 competitive season, which gets underway with BUCS Tennis Team Championships from 25 September 2018. This will be swiftly followed by the start of Recreational and Development competitions as part of a new look offer within university tennis. This offer, below BUCS level, includes University Team Challenge and the University FAST4 Development Leagues.

If you want more information about the full university competition offer, click here.

Jobs

An exciting opportunity is being offered by the University of Exeter to join their team to develop the student tennis participation and support their growing workforce development programme as a University Tennis Coordinator.


For more information on this role and to apply, click here.


Loughborough University are recruiting for two vacant TASS Pro-Player Coach roles.
The TASS Pro Player Coach programme supports aspiring tennis professionals to combine a full-time tennis playing career with the achievement of coaching qualifications: a unique pathway to allow young players to support world class competition with career development. Find out more here.
Interested in applying for the fantastic opportunity at Loughborough? Find further information above.

University Students Involved in Industry Leading Academic Research


It’s great to see the involvement of a number of University of Bath tennis students in recent research at the university. Research led by TeamBath physiotherapist, Katy Williams, investigated the impacts of tennis training and competition on shoulder health.

For more information on this publication, see above.