Heroes of British tennis honoured at awards

A young tennis volunteer from Portsmouth, who threw herself into the sport following difficulties at school, has won a national award at Wimbledon.

Jess Barton from Portsmouth won the Young Volunteer of the Year Award at the Lawn Tennis Association’s British Tennis Awards held at the All England Club for her work at Portsmouth Tennis Centre.

Barton turned to tennis to regain focus and has never looked back. Starting as a volunteer nearly two years ago, she is now a Level 1 coach and takes sessions for young girls as well as assisting with the club’s disability offering.

A key part of the team at Portsmouth Tennis Centre, Jess was presented with her award at a lunch attended by HRH Duchess of Gloucester, tennis legends Jo Durie, Mark Cox and hosted by broadcaster and former British No. 1 Andrew Castle.

Now in its third year, the awards celebrate the outstanding achievements made by tennis volunteers, coaches, clubs and community programmes across the country.

This year saw a record number of public nominations with 1,460 in total for the awards, covering 10 different categories including two volunteer of the year awards, coach of the year, and club of the year.

Nominations were drawn from 25,000 volunteers, 4,400 coaches, 940 officials, 20,000 schools, 2,800 clubs and over 9,700 LTA approved tournaments from across the country, demonstrating the true calibre of these finalists and winners.

Jess Barton said, “I’m very proud of myself for all I’ve achieved and really didn’t expect to win as the category was so strong this year. I feel so inspired watching the disability sessions I volunteer at and the programme is so strong.

 “You don’t get involved to win awards, you do it because you want to get more people playing tennis, so it hasn’t really sunk in yet!”

Scott Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Lawn Tennis Association said:  “I want to congratulate all our winners and nominees for this year’s British Tennis Awards. We had a record number of nominations and their stories reflect the huge passion for the game and highlight how tennis touches the lives of people in a range of different ways, whether through disability programmes, education initiatives or the fantastic work that clubs do in their local communities.

“Our sport wouldn’t be what it is today without the support it receives at grassroots level. These winners and nominees along with the thousands of others up and down the country who give up their time to support our sport are the real heroes of British tennis.” 

 Leon Smith, OBE and GB Davis Cup Captain, who also attended the event added, “The British Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that work at all levels of our sport, including our inspirational coaches who are vital in growing the game and supporting those who play tennis across the country.  Whether it’s helping someone pick up a racket for the first time or progressing through to being an elite player, coaches motivate each person and I genuinely believe their passion for the sport will encourage those of all ages and abilities to keep playing tennis for the rest of their lives.”

To find out how you can get involved in volunteering for British Tennis, visit www.lta.org.uk/volunteering

ENDS

LTA Press contact: hannah.waldegrave@lta.org.uk

Photo captions:

  • Centre Court image – Finalists of the British Tennis Awards with LTA Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd and GB Davis Cup Captain, Leon Smith at Wimbledon –credit ‘Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for the LTA
  • Award image – Jess Barton, winner of Young Volunteer of the Year award with LTA Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd at the British Tennis Awards at Wimbledon – credit ‘British Tennis’