Monday morning dawns damp, dark and dismal. Far from being a strawberries and cream day, a late breakfast of porridge is being served just off court at Dallington LTC.
The message which rings out is a simple one, namely that tennis is, and will remain, an all year round sport.
Mid-October mornings in the wet might not be an obvious first choice for most in possession of a racket, but contrary to expectation, coaching continues in the drizzle outside. Add the fact that much of the day’s preliminary discussion is of Heather Watson’s victory in the Japan Open the day before, the first British woman to win a WTA title for 24 years, and you have a healthy rounded picture.
Coaches James Haley and Steve Biss form the access squad performance programme Excel Tennis. It has just begun its first term working with many of the county’s best junior players at the headquarters of Northants tennis, within the King’s Park Centre on Moulton Park.
The timing of its introduction has been helped by recent sponsorship input of £5,000 by Ravensden PLC into the Northants junior structure which should help bring other coaches into play, so both Haley and Biss are enthusiastic about the future. Both have coaching roots around clubs at Dallington and County LTC respectively, but have been given the chance by Ben Whittaker, the manager at King’s Park, to spread their wings and utilise the indoor facilities more fully.
It is a liaison they appreciate and hope will prove a springboard for many of Northants’ most talented performers. After all, it is ultimately all about the kids...
Haley says: “We have always played a supporting role at King’s Park going back to when Tennis Midlands was put in charge a few years ago. Now we have six squads a week working with around 50 kids between the ages of 6-18 and are holding a Talent ID Day in November for mini players who have a 2005 or 2006 year of birth date.”
At the older end of the spectrum are players such as Lloyd Read and Rachel Kings while the more competitive edge, in terms of numbers, is to be found among the youngsters.
To this end, former County junior Julie Shaw, who played national singles herself as Julie White, is likely to feature strongly as part of the coaching development arm, while having a girl coach in the mix seems likely to address an area where Northants has traditionally struggled.
As Haley points out, neither he nor Biss, enter the ‘spring chicken’ category, remarking: “It was 22 years ago when I started at KLV (Kettering Leisure Village).”
Biss, also from Burton Latimer, can boast coaching credentials almost as far-reaching in the longevity stakes stretching back to 1993 and both believe that is an advantage.
“The word consistency is important in what we are setting out to achieve,” says Haley.
Access of players is the key focal point, for while the King’s Park ethos is still to build a club of its own, Excel Tennis is not about to betray its own roots by luring players away from their home clubs.
“Players are coming to us from as far afield as Brackley and Stony Stratford but must be having at least one individual lesson a week with their lead coach and must attend at least one performance squad per week with their home club or centre.”
High on the Excel Tennis ethic is a desire to work hard for any rewards which might eventually arrive on court. The point is pressed home: ‘if you don’t want to work hard, Excel squads are not for you!’
It seems the wonderful world of winter coaching and tennis has perhaps appropriately enough, an ‘iceberg’ mentality. Just because you can only see 25 per cent above the surface or outside, doesn’t mean it isn’t actually there.
It’s there alright.
Dallington LTC is hosting a mini red tournament this Sunday for eight, nine and ten year-olds. Young tennis players with an eye for the ball should ring Haley on 0774 7785344.
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