New improved tennis courts on the way in Prestwich

Prestwich residents will soon have greater incentive to take up tennis once improvements to the courts in St Mary’s Park are complete.

The four courts are being completely resurfaced, with the introduction of a new access system and the appointment of a professional community park tennis coach.

To ensure tennis is available for everyone, the facilities will offer a mix of free and paid-for play, alongside taster and coaching sessions.

In the meantime, local people took the chance to pick up a racket and celebrate the Great British Tennis Weekend event on Sunday 23 July.

St Mary’s Park was one of many venues across the country to offer free family activities including Highland Spring Mini Tennis sessions, family time, free play, and Cardio Tennis.

If you missed the event, you can try Tennis for Free, a new weekly programme starting on 6 August from 2-4pm every Sunday.

If you are looking to learn or improve your tennis, you can book one of the many new coaching courses that will be available for both adults and juniors on the park courts. Please visit the coaching page on www.burytennis.com for more information

If you are already a seasoned regular or seeking friendly, competitive tennis on a park court then please register your interest with www.localtennisleagues.com/stmarysparkbury

Councillor Andrea Simpson, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “We are really excited about this partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association. This much needed investment at St Mary’s has allowed us to improve local tennis facilities which will benefit the community for years to come and encourage more people to take part in sport.”

All players wishing to use the courts should register online at https://burytennis.com, make a booking, and they will then be given an access code to open the gate to the courts. This helps ensure that the facilities remain in good condition and that the number of people using the courts can be tracked.

You can keep up to date with all the tennis activities at St Mary’s Park through social media: on Twitter @stmarys_tennis and on Facebook @stmarysparktennis

ENDS

Press release issued: 25 July 2017.

Picture: Local tennis players take part in the Great British Tennis Weekend at St Mary’s Park, with (front, left) Jackie Veal, sports development manager; and Cllr Andrea Simpson; with (front, right) Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment; Sam Foakes, regional tennis participation manager; and (behind Cllr Quinn) Paul Jepson, community parks tennis coach.