Red
Ages 4–7
Learning to play
Soft, slow balls on a short court, with rackets a child can actually swing. Sessions are built around movement, coordination, and rallying early.
Junior Tennis Coaching
Develop skills, build confidence, and love the game. Our expert coaches nurture young talent from beginner to advanced levels.
- Ages
- 4–18
- When
- After school & Saturdays
- Open to
- Members and non-members
Find your child's stage
Every child starts on a court, a ball, and a racket sized for them, and moves up as they are ready. These are the LTA Youth stages, which are the same at every club in the country.
The ages overlap on purpose. A coach places a child by what they can already do as much as by their birthday, so a confident eight-year-old and a cautious ten-year-old can be in the same group.
Orange
Ages 8–9
Building the game
A bigger court and a faster ball. Serving, scoring, and match play arrive alongside the technical work, and the first competitive matches follow.
Green
Ages 9–10
Full court
The full-size court with a slightly slower ball, so children can cover the ground and still construct a point. Club competitions open up here.
Yellow
Ages 11–18
The full game
Standard ball and full court, with squads grouped by age — 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18 — so players train alongside their own age group.
Four programmes, one pathway
Every child starts in the Red Foundation, then moves into the Club Programme or the Futures Programme as they're ready. Futures and Academy are the performance routes, and the coaches invite players into them.
Ball stages: Red
Start hereOpen to all
Red Foundation
Learn the FUN-damentals
Where the youngest players start. Two levels — Red 1 and Red 2 — which feed into the Club and Futures programmes as a child is ready for them.
- On court
- 45 minutes to 1 hour a week
- Level
- First racket
Ball stages: Orange and Green
Open to all
Club Programme
Engage and challenge
The main programme, and the one most children are in. Weekly group coaching that builds a game a child can keep playing for the rest of their life.
- On court
- 1+ hours a week
- Level
- Beginner to progression
Ball stages: Orange, Green and Yellow
By invitation
Futures Programme
Refine and define
For players who have outgrown a single weekly session and want to compete. More court time, smaller groups, and the technical work that a competitive game needs.
- On court
- 2+ hours a week
- Level
- Progression to challenger
Ball stages: Yellow
By invitation
Academy Programme
The total tennis athlete
The club's performance squad, for players competing at county level and beyond. Tennis, movement, and conditioning, several times a week.
- On court
- 4+ hours a week
- Level
- Challenger to elite
Holiday camps
When the weekly programme stops for school holidays, the camps take over. Three hours on court (AM/PM), with games, match play, and enough breaks to keep everyone standing.
- Runs
- Every school holiday and half term
- Ages
- 4–18, grouped by stage
- Hours
- 9.30am - 4.00pm
- Book
- By the day or the full week
Camps are open to non-members, and children do not need to be in the weekly programme to come. Junior members receive a discount. Dates for the next holiday are published in the events calendar as soon as they are set.
Book via Class Manager
What it costs
Coaching is paid per term, and it is open to everyone. Membership makes it cheaper and brings the courts with it, but it is not a condition of joining a group.
Weekly coaching
| Programme | Per week | Per term |
|---|---|---|
| Red Foundation45 minutes to 1 hour a week | £9 | £108 |
| Club Programme1+ hours a week | £11 | £132 |
| Futures Programme2+ hours a week | £20 | £240 |
| Academy Programme4+ hours a week | £36 | £432 |
Based on a 12-week term. A shorter term is charged at the weekly rate.
Holiday camps
| Booking | Price |
|---|---|
| Half day10.00am–12.30pm | £22 |
| Full day10.00am–3.00pm | £38 |
| Full weekFive full days, saving £25 | £165 |
- Not a member?
- Add £2 per session. There is nothing else to pay to join a group.
- More than one child
- 10% off for a second and any further child in the same family.
- When you pay
- Per term, in advance, before the first session. Camps are paid at the time of booking.
- Joining part-way through
- Charged pro rata for the sessions left in the term, so nobody pays for weeks they have missed.
Junior membership£107
Per year, 2026/27. Optional — it covers court booking, club events, and takes the supplement off every session.
See junior membershipStarting out
Nobody is expected to know which group their child belongs in. Tell us their age and what they have played, and the coaches will put them in the right one.
Tell us about your child
Their age, and whether they have picked up a racket before. That is genuinely all we need to point you at a group.
Come to a session
Arrive ten minutes early so your child can meet the coach before the group starts. Parents are welcome to stay and watch from the pavilion.
Take it from there
If the group is right, we will book the rest of the term. If it is not, we will move them — that happens often and is not a problem.
The junior programme is run in partnership with Charman Tennis Coaching, alongside the club's own coaching team.
Parents ask
The questions we get most often from families joining the junior programme.
Send us a message01My child has never played before. Where do they start?
In the group for their age, with everyone else who has never played. Under-8s start in the Red Foundation and everyone else joins the Club Programme — both assume no experience at all, and rackets are available to borrow for the younger stages.
02What should my child bring?
Trainers with flat soles, a water bottle, and kit for the weather — sessions run outdoors all year on the floodlit courts. Bring a racket if you have one; if you do not, say so and we will lend one for the first few weeks.
03How do Futures and Academy invitations work?
The coaches watch every group and speak to you directly when they think a child is ready for more court time. There is no trial to enter and nothing to apply for — if your child wants to work towards it, tell their coach and they will tell you what they are looking for.
04Are the coaches DBS-checked?
Yes. Every coach working with juniors at the club is LTA-accredited, DBS-checked, and first-aid and safeguarding trained, and the club has a named welfare officer.
05Can my child play at the club outside their lesson?
Junior members can book a court a day in advance through myCourts, and are welcome on the courts with a parent at any time there is a free one. Children in a programme who are not members will need to come as the guest of a member.
06My child already plays at school or another club. Can they still join?
Yes, and plenty do. Tell the coaches what they are already doing when you get in touch, so they can place your child by standard rather than by age alone.