Anyone for tennis?

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mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Anyone for tennis?

Post by mystery »

Sounds like Invicta is planning lots of tennis on the curriculum at the Sevenoaks grammar annex. See the latest on the Sevenoaks Grammar website.

If there's space for a tennis academy, maybe there's space to share the site with the Christian School?
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by doodles »

Not sure about that one, from what little I know of it the tennis circuit seems pretty full on and a bit scary :lol:
bristols
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:37 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by bristols »

Yes it will be great to have an excellent tennis facility on the same site as an outstanding grammar school. Two centres of excellence on the same site. Very exciting for Sevenoaks. Maybe they could fit a dry ski slope on as well. I think there's a bit of a hill at the back. :D
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by mystery »

What a good plan. And a bridge club and a coffee house?
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by mystery »

I've just clicked that the wildernesse site could be "Wimbledon at sevenoaks "
too - a sort of annex for those unable to make it into London.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by Rob Clark »

mystery, what on earth were you doing posting at 2am!? Planning to make your millions by launching a Sevenoaks GS coffee house? Maybe a juice bar a better plan with all those health-conscious tennis players wandering around… :D
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by doodles »

Rob Clark wrote:a juice bar a better plan with all those health-conscious tennis players wandering around… :D
I'll stick to the rugby club then, bacon sandwiches and coffee all round :lol: :lol: :lol:
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by mystery »

Don't worry - I will not be running a healthy cafe. Lots of stodge for all those local children who have walked to school.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by mystery »

From the campaign website:

" And the plan has been backed by Andy Murray’s brother and the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles champion, Jamie Murray.

Jamie told the Sevenoaks Chronicle: “It’s great. A new facility like this would give local people a greater opportunity to learn or play tennis. There are not enough facilities for tennis in general; too few opportunities for people to play in their own towns and villages. I think it’s a problem throughout the country.

“We’ve been on about not having a men’s champion for 77 years. Andy has changed all that. There is a real appetite for tennis out there at the moment, and it would be a shame if we weren’t able to capitalise on that and help kids who want to learn the sport.” "


My problem is I can't hit a ball and my potential grammar children are useless too. I'm hoping there will be free tennis coaching at the grammar school for complete no-hopers.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Re: Anyone for tennis?

Post by Rob Clark »

I'm hoping there will be free tennis coaching at the grammar school for complete no-hopers.
:D You may well be justified in that hope, mystery. There is a theory that what we need are exponentially more children playing tennis at all levels and that by massively widening the base of the pyramid we will, de facto, increase the numbers at the top of it. This is based on the fact that far more children play tennis in countries such as France and Spain than do here, though as we have heard on the Forum, this cultural transference doesn't necessarily work, and that is true of sport as it is of education. Better weather would obviously help too :lol:

Contrary to popular belief we, as a country, are actually hugely successful in junior tennis; it's the transition to the professional ranks which is where the problems lie.

The concept put forward in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and expanded by Matthew Syed in Bounce is that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master anything, be it a musical instrument, computer programming or a sport. The issue with tennis is that that practice has to start at a sufficiently young age that the driving force behind it is inevitably going to be the parents (or A parent). I suspect this may well be true of music too, but I have no expert knowledge in that field.

Schlepping around the world playing minor tennis tournaments takes a rare degree of determination and commitment, and it may well be that children who have alternative options open to them, particularly more academic options, will choose to follow a different path once they are old enough to make that choice for themselves.
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