Progress amid the old protocols

Monday 25 June 2001 00:00 BST

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If you think that the archetypal British tennis club – middle-class area, dress code, restricted court access for children – can do nothing for the future of the game, consider the Wimbledon Club and think again.

Not only is it thriving as a hub of local social activity, it possesses a youth programme that functions perfectly well outside the auspices of the Lawn Tennis Association's Club Vision venture, detailed elsewhere. It has produced several promising players, not least Melanie South, a 14-year-old who is ranked in the top 10 youngsters in Britain in her age group. And it is so popular, with both local adults and children, that it cannot accept new members.

"We're full to bursting and we can't take any more applications," Freda Parker, the club manager, says. "We've got a waiting list of somewhere around 100, and that's full as well, so it's closed. The same applies for our junior membership."

Founded in the 19th century, the members-owned club lies in the heart of the famous south London suburb, a short walk from the All England Club, home of the world's biggest Grand Slam tournament. As well as being a venue for cricket, hockey and squash, its tennis facilities include eight grass courts, seven hard courts and one indoor court.

There are 641 senior tennis club members, paying £267 a year, and 300 juniors, who are entitled to play all four sports, paying £75. It has extensive opening hours (8am-10.30pm Monday to Saturday, 8am-9.30pm on Sundays), but it also retains some of the characteristics that the LTA would ideally seek to overturn.

The dress code, for example, is "fairly strong", admits Parker. "It's a predominantly white top, white socks and white shoes. It's enforced quite strongly with adults although we allow a bit more laxness with the juniors. The aim is to maintain a level of smartness."

General access to the grass courts for children is forbidden unless they are accompanied by an adult, and there is no coaching at all allowed on the grass. However, the club's "badge" juniors, who have achieved a suitable playing standard, are allowed to play on grass. "If there was unlimited access, we'd ruin it," says Parker. There is also priority access for adults at certain times, allowing them to ask youngsters to move if there are no other courts available.

The flip side is the club's progressive youth programme. On Friday nights, all the hard courts are set aside for junior members, who are encouraged to attend with social events such as barbecues. On Saturday mornings there is squad coaching for the older juniors, and at other times there is squad coaching for the under-10s. All this is free to members.

Individual coaching and school holiday courses are also available, and there are inter-club tournaments to encourage competitive play. There are also matches against local clubs at all junior levels and the under-10s participate in Little League. The notion that youngsters at private clubs cannot progress within the national system, Parker argues, is false.

"It's nonsense to say that they can't progress," she says. "If they're good enough then they'll get through to the national programmes, our coaches will spot them. Our kids get a good deal here."

So is the LTA's desire to offer financial incentives to do things their way, not the club's way, attractive? "We're already investing in the future, and heavily," Parker says. "We have a full and active junior programme as it is. If we were struggling, maybe we would consider it, but we're booming. To stop what we are doing, to reassess it all and start it all again, will take some persuading."

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Progress amid the old protocols

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