Churchdown Tennis Club are looking to the future and hoping to attract new players.

The club have roughly 40 members who play on two hard courts behind the main Churchdown Social Club, which is opposite the Old Elm pub.

The courts are not visible from the road, so even locals may not know they are there!

And the future for this ‘hidden gem’ is very much the next generation of players who can help drive the club forward.

“The junior section is a big thing for us,” said club captain Mike Speke.

“We are holding coaching sessions for under-9s and under-12s on Saturday mornings and they are being organised by our Head Coach Neil Cornish.”

For the seniors, they have two men’s teams that play in the Gloucestershire Summer League. They have been doing well in the last few years with the A team competing in Division 4A and the B team promoted in their first season into Division 5A.

The club would also like to have a ladies’ team in the future as well.

Both Speke and Cornish play for the A team alongside Shaun Curtis, Paul Scott and Richard Fernandes.

So what sort of player is Speke, who turns 57 in September?

“My fitness and consistency are my strengths,” he said. “I try and get everything back and wear my opponents down”.

And it’s that sort of commitment that will ensure Churchdown Tennis Club are a club that will make progress in the weeks, months and years to come.


For more information or to join the club, visit http://churchdowntennisclub.co.uk/