Tennis chief in praise of club

Cathie Sabin was guest of honour at an open day held at St Chad’s Tennis Club in Poulton.

She was invited by club stalwart Gemma Jackson who used to teach alongside Ms Sabin in Shropshire.

The LTA chief chatted to members about the challenges of running grassroots tennis.

Gemma said: “I invited Cathie to visit after recognising her as a former colleague when she presented the Davis Cup to the Great Britain team, never expecting such a busy lady to accept.

“She chatted to our juniors and wanted to know all about them and whether they played in teams and also spoke to our coach Greg Porter.”

After presenting prizes to winners of tennis challenges held on the day, Ms Sabin told members: “The future of British tennis lies with these juniors and my commitment over my three-year presidency has been to juniors and volunteers.

“Here at St Chad’s you are doing an excellent job to promote juniors and you have some of the most committed volunteers to do that.”

Coach Greg Porter said: “I have never spoken to anyone else before who has such a passion for tennis and knowledge of a grass roots club.”

Andrew McAusland won the senior fastest serve competition on the day with 95mph, while Alex Manders won the junior category with 91mph. The continuous rally challenge was won by Simon and Harry Gordon.