I ATTENDED a grammar school that had four beautiful grass tennis courts. They were so perfectly manicured that the pupils were rarely, if ever, allowed to play on them. The memory of my only match on grass is vivid: I pretended I was playing at Wimbledon.
Recently I met some pupils from schools in the London boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth who also say they play at Wimbledon. Only, they really do. Every week.
Some of the most impressive coaches in England are available free of charge every weekend, or more often if you want, to children who live near Wimbledon. The All England Club decided five years ago to give something back to the local community. It could have been a shallow public-relations exercise. Instead, the club is unearthing talented youngsters who would not have otherwise touched a racket.
It is a simple enough idea. Dan Bloxham, the All England Club’s head coach, went into the local schools and threw balls at some children to catch. If they seemed to enjoy themselves, he invited them to Wimbledon. And they were never asked to leave. The philosophy is that if they are happy to keep turning up, then they will continue to learn and to improve. More than 50,000 children from the two boroughs have had a racket put in their hands.
Advertisement
It used to be that as Wimbledon fortnight approached, thoughts turned to strawberries, long but jolly queues and prayers for sunshine. Increasingly, though, Wimbledon heralds dark mutterings about Britain’s inability to produce a player who might actually win the most prestigious grass-court tournament. The paradox is that every penny of the profit made by the championships — £26 million last year — is handed over by Wimbledon to the LTA, whose task it is to nurture British tennis.
The LTA must now feel like the cleaner who finds his boss is mopping the floor and emptying the bins. The Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative is as sparky and successful as anything the LTA has devised.
Josh Whiteman joined up at 12, four years ago, and became so hooked that his ambition is to be the world No 1. He is surrounded by younger children, some of whom Bloxham says tick all the boxes when it comes to being potential champions.
Bloxham tried and failed to fund his own tennis ambitions by being a part-time butcher but he has found his calling with the initiative. He bounces around in front of Centre Court with the youngsters, proud that the club’s members welcome the local children.
Even with the tournament a matter of days away, Bloxham is allowed to zoom about the place, to pop his head around a boardroom door and ask Martin Guntrip, the All England Club secretary, to explain why Wimbledon is bothering with local schools.
Advertisement
“Our children have an equal amount of talent as Spanish kids, as Russian kids; there is no difference when you look at five or six-year-olds,” Guntrip said. “It’s how we nurture that. And all we are trying to do is excite them. Some will get very excited about what we do because we have a first-class initiative with a first-class head coach in Dan.
“And we are exciting people, there’s no doubt. Literally, teachers’ jaws drop when they see Dan in action with his team because they cannot get children to do what Dan can get them to do. You get kids who are rebellious or who want to sit there with their iPods and he gets them running, competing, moving and that’s fantastic. Even if they end up kicking a tennis ball, that’s great, maybe a scout from Arsenal will pick them up. It’s just about getting the kids motivated.”
Bloxham makes sure the parents are involved. They help with the warm-up routines and play in matches against the youngsters that act in a fun way to enable the children to become used to playing in front of an audience.
Bloxham believes that children pick up on the enthusiasm or lack of it from their parents, something that might prick the consciences of those mothers who pay for lessons at the local private club while they disappear for a coffee. “It’s not the All England’s job to change the image of tennis,” Guntrip said. But they do seem intent on changing the image of Wimbledon at least.
“Our role is to run the premier tennis tournament in the world,” Guntrip said. “The LTA’s job is to run British tennis, whether that’s the grassroots level or at the very top.”
Advertisement
The biggest boost would be for a British player to win Wimbledon. “People would want to emulate it,” Guntrip said. “You look at Sweden after [Bjorn] Borg, you look at Germany after [Steffi] Graf and [Boris] Becker. There is no question that having champions would boost the game’s appeal. [Andy] Murray could be our answer, we’ll have to wait and see. But we feel getting children to pick up a racket in schools is key. It’s not just about tennis — tennis just happens to be our vehicle. It’s getting kids more athletic, getting them competing.
“Obviously we’d love to see more British players here straight into the main draw and not just through wild cards. There are a lot of questions about British tennis, especially ladies tennis. Why? It’s a tough life for a young girl to travel the world, it can be very lonely.
“Who would have thought that a man [Richard Williams] who knows nothing about tennis at all could produce two Wimbledon champions, as in Venus and Serena? That is a phenomenal story. He read books, practised with them in the park, didn’t let them compete until they were 18 on the international stage. But I think every single guru, every single tennis expert, every single commentator would suggest that a player has to do their apprenticeship and compete at a certain level.”
One of Guntrip’s main jobs is to make sure that the courts “are absolutely perfect” next week. “The worst thing would be if Roger Federer complained about a bad bounce on Centre Court,” he said. But he is still prepared, unlike my old school’s groundsman, to let the local kids play on his grass.