UNIVERSITY of ST ANDREWS TENNIS CLUB
ACTION PLAN, SEPTEMBER 2013 – AUGUST, 2014
VOLUNTEER/OUTREACH WORK
Aim
 Recruiting committed volunteers from within the club to help out with grassroots development
 Encouraging more people to do coaching courses with the LTA
Where?
 Local schools, clubs (e.g. Kinburn courts), Uni courts
How?
 Lead Volunteer would work on encouraging volunteers from all tiers of the club and building an team of
volunteers
 Floodlit sessions on Saturday evenings
 Link with Active Schools to arrange a programme that sets up coaching and competition for Primary School
children at Canongate, Greyfriars, Lawhead and St Leonards schools. Make these children aware of tennis
programmes at their local club.
 Offering subsidised coaching licenses to aspiring tennis instructors
INTRAMURAL/INTERCLUB COMPETITION
Aim
 Get more people playing competitively within the club (i.e. offer events that encourage all level of players
to compete at the appropriate level)
 Trying to maintain a solid presence at social tennis sessions throughout the winter months
 Involving non-BUCS players in competitive match play more
How?
 Running regular social doubles tournaments during a social tennis session (3 x per semester)
 Potential prizes for winners: Free Christmas dinner meal, free lunch at the Vic
 Enter more non-BUCS league teams in regional tournaments/competitions (e.g. SSS Tennis Cup)
 Get Singles Box Leagues up and running for all club members who expressed interest
 Email reminders to players to play.
 Have prizes for the most matches played?
PUBLICITY
Aim
 Promote our club more in the University and wider community
 Broaden our appeal to all ability/interest levels
 Establishing ties out with the university – local club
 Celebrating individual and team achievements more

Making committee operations/members more transparent
How?
 Make use of our social media (Facebook, twitter, Saintmail, website, student publications)
 Enhanced fundraising (bringing in non-club interest, i.e. other universities)
 Regular involvement w/ charitable schemes run by AU and other clubs (e.g. Sports Stripped calendar, Date
auction, nights out)
 Routinizing match reports/live match feeds/AU newsletter articles/columns in student-led newspapers
 Broadcasting tennis club developments over Star Radio
 Regular reporting for the local newspaper (St Andrews Citizen)
 Encouraging people to come out and support teams on match days
 Interviewing committee members and publishing them
ALUMNI
Aim
 Building the current alumni database
How?
 Appoint an ‘Alumni Lead’ to firstly develop an Alumni mailing list, by going through archived news, match
reports, squad lists etc.
 Distributing a regular alumni newsletter
 Organising alumni match; incorporate alumni contributions into fundraising scheme
SQUADS
Aim
 To create an environment of discipline & commitment to both training & fitness sessions and to keep this
going throughout the academic year (i.e. turning up on time, prior warning to coaches, captains for any
absence
 Encouraging self-reflection and more ownership from the students
How?
 Captains to come up with rewards and sanctions to maintain the team commitment.
 Captains and Director of Tennis to set out clear expectations and reinforce these throughout the year
 Have players use tennis log books, and have regular, simple post-training and post-match evaluations
CLUB SOCIAL/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Aim
 Building bonds across all club strata (i.e. bridging the gap between squad players and social players)
 Drumming up more interest in club socials
 More tennis-themed socials
How?
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Publicising socials on social media interfaces as well as in person
Making the position of social rep more personable/approachable
Making the position of fresher rep more personable/approachable
Strong committee presence at social tennis sessions & socials
Enhanced communication via email, Facebook & in person
MINI TENNIS & JUNIOR TENNIS
Aim
 Get more Minis & Juniors playing at the University and local club(s)
How
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Taster sessions between Feb & April at local schools. Delivered by head coach, student coaches, volunteers
Follow up with after school classes during the summer term and during the holidays
Liaise with Active Schools regarding promoting the sessions
Run East Fife squads in liaison with East Fife Tennis Development Group
Numbers
 Build up the numbers taking part and/or increase the number of sessions they have.
(School visits last year: went up from 42 to 300+ last year)
(Pupils at after school classes during summer term last year: went up from 13 to 34)
(Pupils at Summer School: went from 51 to 69 last year)
Additional Benefits
 Provide opportunities for student coaches to get experience and for Head Coach to mentor them
 Raise the profile of the Uni Club and the University