The rise of Musselburgh Tennis Club...
It would be fair to say 12 months ago that Musselburgh Tennis Club (MTC) was ticking over, sitting on approximately 30 members with only a few juniors and no formal coaching programme in place. A positive group from within the club, led by President Tim Price, had their sights set on something quite different for MTC and so began a journey that has taken the club to be a shining light for East Lothian Tennis.
With support from Tennis Scotland, East Lothian Council and Enjoy Leisure the club developed a plan which they hoped would be the spark to bigger and better things for tennis in the town. MTC set up junior coaching on Saturday mornings for children aged 5 -18 and adult coaching (“Tennis Express”) for adult beginners. Through the junior and adult coaching the membership began to increase and it wasn’t long before ‘the word got out’ that Tennis was back in Musselburgh. More and more people got involved with the club and through further adult coaching courses along with junior summer camps, membership continued to grow. MTC was selected to be a venue for the LTA’s National Mini Tennis Week in June which, after a week of school tasters, culminated in a fantastic open day, with over 180 attendees enjoying the home baking, BBQ, ice cream and most of all the tennis!
Between April and September 2013 the Club’s membership grew from just over 30 to 136 – a staggering statistic. This made MTC not only the fastest growing club in East Lothian but one of the fastest growing clubs in Scotland. Now, a year on, plans are coming together for 4 all-weather floodlit courts to be built in Lewisvale Park (where the club is situated currently) which will allow the club to grow further and bring their facilities up to a 21st Century standard. What has made MTC’s story so significant is that the Club has been supported by the local community - with businesses, schools and other clubs getting behind the rise of MTC. MTC is a valued member of the Musselburgh Sports Hub which is a collective group of sports clubs in the Musselburgh area who provide support and guidance to each other, ultimately aiming to provide a quality sporting service in the town.
MTC recently began the process of attaining its Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS) Accreditation, which involves workshops with Club Leaders, Coaches and Parents. MTC will be the first tennis club in East Lothian (if not Scotland!) to go through this process, which aims to provide and maintain a positive environment for youth sport to flourish, encouraging young people to stay involved in sport in to adulthood.
PCS in a nutshell focuses on a these key principles –
Double Goal Coach – Striving to Win & Learning Life Lessons
Honour Our Sport – Respect ROOTS (Rules, Officials, Opponents, Team Mates and Self)
Redefine Winner – Encourage and support ELM (Effort, Learning and Mistakes)
Fill the Emotional Tank – Positivity is the key to getting the best out of the children or youths you are working with!
"Last season was an exciting first step on the Club's journey towards developing a thriving club and community tennis centre, operating from 21st century tennis facilities at the heart of a rejuvenated Lewisvale Park in Musselburgh.
Thanks to the hard work of the Club's committee and tremendous support from East Lothian Council, the East Lothian Tennis Development Officer, local Active Schools Coordinators and Tennis Scotland, we believe firmly that we will be able to increase participation in tennis in the Musselburgh area to a level which better reflects the size of the local population.
We are particularly excited to have been selected as the first tennis club in Scotland to participate in the Positive Coaching Scotland programme, which we feel will raise the profile of the Club as a centre of coaching excellence for all age groups and abilities in the coming seasons." (Tim Price, President of Musselburgh Tennis Club)
When you consider where MTC was 12 months ago, where it is now, and where it’s going - it truly is a fantastic story. Enormous amount of credit has to be heaped on the Club’s committee and members who have brought a new meaning to the word positive. The future is looking particularly bright for this sleeping giant of East Lothian Tennis.
It is a hugely exciting time to be involved in tennis in East Lothian with many exciting projects going on including Longniddry, East Linton, Haddington, Tranent and Musselburgh while North Berwick, Dunbar and Gullane continue to thrive.
If you want to get involved in Tennis in East Lothian or if you wish to find out more about Positive Coaching Scotland, please contact Stuart Brown (sbrown@enjoyleisure.com).
