Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, I’m Joe Garner, Chair of Tennis First and I am thrilled to welcome you to this celebration of the wonderful sport of Tennis. First, I would like to thank the All England for enabling us to host our dinner in this fabulous location, and to all the people who are working here to look after us this evening. I would also like to thank the team at Fortius for their generous sponsorship of this evening, as well as the many other supporters in the room, including the LTA and the Wimbledon Foundation. I would also like to thank Ken, Suzi, Abbie, Candice and all the team at Tennis First for their phenomenal work through the year.
I suspect that are all united in our appreciation of this wonderful sport – Tennis is something we can play from our earliest days, right through our lives. In fact…funny thing…I was recently competing in a Seniors tournament on the South Coast, and the referee was diligently explaining the rules before we started. As we huddled around, he painstakingly and laborious explained that we were playing fast four, which means that at deuce, we would not play advantage, but rather that the game would be decided by the outcome of a single point.
“…so…..sudden death deuce then…??” I asked. The referee leant in towards me and said..
“The LTA have asked that we don’t use that term in Seniors Tournaments.”
Seriously though, there are few activities that can rival Tennis in its ability to educate and develop people physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. Tennis is a wonderful tutor and as such, I believe passionately in the benefits for all ages by engaging in this sport. At Tennis First, our mission is to help inspire the nation to pick a racket and play. We do this by providing financial assistance directly to promising young players, to help them get the international experience that is vital early in a champion’s career. We believe that it is the success of young British players – some in this room today – that inspire many others to get on court. And while not everyone that we support will make it into the top 250 in the world, we observe that many of our former grantees go on to contribute widely to the sport and wider society as coaches, mentors and in many other ways.
Over the last 7 years, Tennis First has awarded over £1 million to promising young juniors. More recently, we have also supported players with dedicated events, coach-the-coaches and investment in helping specific centres to become even better at what they do. But our support is only possible with your support, and this is the main fund-raising event in our calendar. Now, don’t worry, we are not going to pester you all night to part with thousands of pounds for one of Rafa Nadal’s smelly old shoes. In fact, we have made the decision not to interrupt the evening with a live auction. We do however have a silent auction running, and I would like to invite you, even ask you, to please bid for some of the very interesting lots that we have available this evening.
If you don’t see anything that you like, you can simply make a donation by clicking on the “make a donation” button. Donations are eligible for Gift Aid – so… while I am not qualified to give financial advice…you can also attract tax relief on your donation. In buying a lot or making a donation, you are directly contributing the future success of a promising young junior. Your contribution could be the lucky break that a player needs to set them on the path to success and to inspiring the next generation.
Because Tennis is a tough, tough sport. It is physically gruelling. It is all year round. It is expensive. It is gladiatorial. As a young player you are out there on your own, battling it out against opponent after opponent from wet and windy local tournaments to the best venues in the world. So, my biggest thanks and appreciation is for our grantees. You are the people who are the hardest working here. The endless training sessions. The injuries and rehab. The stunning victories. The crushing defeats. The broken strings. The broken rackets. The broken hearts. Each and every difficult step bringing you just one millimetre further up that steep and windy road to the top.
So please everyone, show your appreciation for our grantees, bid generously, enjoy the evening and I will now hand you back to our host for the evening, John Inverdale.