A snapshot of what we do - get in touch to discuss your venue

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SMASH Tennis are a coaching provider working across 5 venues based in the Stoke-On-Trent area. The two owners of this business are experienced coaches and they have a great team of coaches delivering at the venues. Jack Redfern used to work for the LTA and is responsible for the off-court responsibilities with Craig Leese leading more with the team and on-court. 

We Do Tennis were asked to support SMASH Tennis and review how their business operated. Our remit is wide ranging and helps with all aspects of their tennis business. An initial focus was placed on financial procedures and analysing past performance to really understand strengths and weaknesses in the operation. From this point we were able to help with next phase planning, project priorities, marketing, and support to drive participation and profit.

SMASH Tennis remain in full control of their business. They collect all fees from their customers and pay any fees relating to the business. We Do Tennis charge a monthly contribution to provide the support as agreed. More time was required in the initial stages to support changes and understand the business. In addition to time spent each month at their venues, we are on hand to answer questions or provide email support. It is a great partnership and together will really raise the bar for tennis in their area for a long time to come.

"We Do Tennis been fantastic at opening our eyes to the importance of the off-court work, their strategies will certainly help take our business to the next level."

Craig Leese – Joint Owner SMASH Tennis

One of the most rewarding function we complete at We Do Tennis is coach support and mentoring. We spend a lot of time in venues all over the UK. Helping individual coaches improve either their on-court coaching or their off-court administration and business skills is what we are about.

Some coaches come to work for We Do Tennis because they want our support and to be part of a bigger vision. Other coaches are happy plotting their own path but just want some additional support in certain areas. This can vary for each individual coach.

Ryan Evans was a young Level 2 coach that was failing in his role because he could not retain players and his coaching skills on court needed to improve. We invested time to make sure he improved as a person and a coach. We can think of many other examples of coaches at all different levels and stages of their career. Our industry does not tend to invest in individual mentors and personal development. If you look at other industries this is common practice.

"We Do Tennis have saved my career in tennis. I started as an apprentice coach and knew that I loved tennis. But I found coaching and talking to parents difficult. Nigel supported me from day 1 and has always given his time to develop me as a coach. I just know that We Do Tennis will help me and I really trust what they say."

Ryan Evans – Tennis Coach

Dan Stickland is an experienced coaching that has enjoyed coaching and developing a team of coaches for the nearly 20 years. He has been Head Coach of a large Tennis Club on the Wirral for 13 years and wanted to take the next step with a new venture at a new venue. 

We Do Tennis spent time with Dan planning the strategy and vision for the new business. Time for Tennis as a brand was born and we developed the brand concept in terms of artwork, promotional messaging and website creation. We also moved the programme registration to a new monthly direct debit system.  

We can help coaches and coaching companies with all areas of their business. The best part of this project is that we have started a long term relationship to help drive the Time For Tennis brand and support Dan with his goals – to work with a collection of venues and build a really strong team of coaches.  

It is great fun to work on a project with other people. Different views and experience go into the pot and much better ideas come out. We have really benefitted from the support and energy that We Do Tennis bring to the project. They get things done and make things happen. Looking forward to the future collaboration. 

Dan Stickland – Director of Time For Tennis

A delightful two court club located in North Wales, close to the border with Shropshire. We Do Tennis were asked to help the club and start coaching sessions. They had not organised any coaching for several years. 

By using Tennis Xpress, Tennis for Kids and other sessions we were able to deliver a full programme of sessions for all ages and players. This has now continued to ongoing weekly sessions for over 25 players, increasing the overall membership of the club by nearly 50%.

We appointed a young coach and spent time on court helping him with all areas of coaching. After the initial period of training and support we have continued to mentor him with a monthly support visit. It has been great to see a young coach flourish and develop his skills.

“I just wanted to say how brilliant the first session was. My children loved it and the quality of coaching was outstanding. See you next week.”

PARENT – HANMER TENNIS CLUB

Brewood Tennis Club is a lovely small village tennis club in Staffordshire. The club has two good tennis courts with floodlights and a small membership base. The courts are in the local park but are maintained and organised by the tennis club.

The club were frustrated with their coaching programme with the lack of activity and only one day available to potential players. They decided to advertise the coaching role on the LTA website and decided to appoint We Do Tennis as the new coaching provider in 2020. 

We held an initial open day with time slots available on a Saturday morning & afternoon and the same on the Sunday. This was to find out which slot would work best. Feedback from the day also showed interest for a weekday evening. We launched with Tennis For Kids and very quickly established 50 new players on a coaching programme. For a small tennis club, a fresh start and new approach can make such a difference in a short space of time. New members including lots of family membership has really made a big difference to club funds and the venue.

We Do Tennis have been able to provide quality tennis coaching for all ages. The easy to use booking system, frequent contact via email and the LTA 6-week program which included a tennis racket and balls, are some of the positive comments made by parents. Ryan is a brilliant coach and has built good relationships with all children. His sessions are energetic, fun and packed with activities to improve skills and techniques.

Sarah Culverhouse – Junior Liaison Brewood Tennis Club Committee

Cutnall Green Tennis Club is situated in a small village in Worcestershire. The venue has a strong adult membership and competes in the local leagues. Junior coaching had not taken place for a period and the numbers had been extremely low previously.

We Do Tennis promoted the coaching scheme in the local schools running taster days and handing out leaflets. The initial 6-week courses started in November which is not a good time of the year to launch new coaching. The uptake was excellent with 23 children starting on new Tennis For Kids courses.

Some coaches struggle with converting players from an initial offer to regular attendance. We have a fantastic track record for this and would say the number one factor is our communication with players and parents, before, during and after the course. At Cutnall Green 24 players continued out of a potential 23! The extra player was a younger sister who saw how much fun the other children were having. 

“Thank you for organising Tennis For Kids at Cutnall Green. I just wanted to say how brilliant your coach Vanessa was with the children and that we will be carrying on. We do lots of activities and the organisation, communication and coaching delivery has been the best we have seen.”

PARENT – CUTNALL GREEN TENNIS CLUB

Glossop Tennis Club is a fantastic outdoor venue in the High Peaks. Not far from Manchester but resides just inside the LTA County Association of Derbyshire. The venue has 4 outdoor courts with 2 of these floodlit. As with most venues of this size, Glossop Tennis Club has a fantastic small group of eager committee members keen to see the venue progress.

We Do Tennis were asked to support the coaching recruitment and transition from a previous provider. The venue was struggling to find a strong coaching candidate and the parents were not positive about previous arrangements. Our initial tasks were to cover three days of coaching whilst finding a replacement coach, plus a communication exercise to gain support again from the players and parents.

Finding a coach was more difficult than first thought. Our solution was to provide a replacement coach that travelled to Glossop and stayed over for a longer period. During this initial phase we could work more with the venue and help other areas. The two main areas we supported next were the membership process and attracting new adult members. Joining had always been done the same way. Printing membership forms off and sending self-addressed envelopes and cheques to the membership secretary. It often takes an independent view to see how things have always been done and suggest better ways. Glossop now uses Clubspark and takes membership payments online. This process is a must for all venues. 

Our first membership attraction project was great fun. We delivered a 6-week ‘We Do Starter Tennis’ course targeting female players. With 10 ladies signed up we delivered great coaching, created a WhatsApp group and got the group to attend the venue for an extra practice night. To attract and retain new members, venues need to do each project well. We have seen lots of coaches or venues put a course on and be surprised when hardly any of the new players join at the end. We signed up all 10 players to continue coaching and pay £100 each for membership. An extra £1,000 in venue funds makes a big difference to most small to medium venues.

"We Do Tennis have worked closely with us to help future proof our club and have increased our membership significantly through their coaching programmes. A big thanks from Glossop Tennis Club."

Situated in the heart of Didsbury, South Manchester, The Northern is a unique members owned Racquet Sports and Fitness club. They offer Tennis, Squash and Fitness facilities to rival any club in the North West of England. With 22 tennis courts across 5 different surfaces The Northern is a must for any tennis enthusiast to try.

We Do Tennis were asked to review their current tennis programme, and suggest improvements that could be made. Following the review we recommended a number of changes to the operation of the programme which drove significant additional revenue and profit, encouraged retention, greatly reduced the administration time needed to run the programme and significantly allowed future growth to occur with no increase in administration time.

In 2018 the tennis programme broke even. After our review and implementation of our recommendations the tennis programme made over £80k profit in 2019. A fantastic result. 

"I would like to extend the thanks of the Tennis and Executive Committees for your work to date. In a word it has been transformational"

John Egan - Chair, Tennis Committee at the Northern

Telford Tennis Centre is a 4 indoor / 4 outdoor court facility in Shropshire operated by GLL. The venue has a team of coaches and a small operational team. The main challenge is location and the venue has always struggled to deliver a strong court utilisation and coaching programme revenue. The venue has been operating for nearly 10 years. 

We Do Tennis were asked to support the Tennis Manager, mentor the coaching team, and produce a strategy for coaching programme growth. The support agreed was for two days per month but as with all our projects, we will provide more support in the initial stages to make changes and ensure the success of our interventions. 

The venue started with 108 players attending a weekly coaching programme paying by direct debit. With a focus on the coaching team, schools’ outreach, new adult coaching and a Tennis for Kids programme, numbers have increased to 274. This growth is fantastic and is significantly the highest player levels in the venue’s existence. To achieve these numbers in a short period of time (8 months) shows what an impact an external support mechanism can have for a venue.

“We have been extremely pleased to welcome Nigel on board as a consultant for Telford Tennis Centre. With his vast array of skills and knowledge within this industry, it has been invaluable for myself, the Tennis Manager, to have Nigel on hand to offer his expertise when required and help progress the centre to where it needs to be.Thanks go out to Nigel on what he has done for us so far and we look forward to what the future holds."

Jamie McLintock – Telford Tennis Centre Manager

 This venue is a true gem. With 3 indoor, 9 all year round outdoor and 4 grass courts as well as 6 squash courts, gym, bar, function room and class studio it has fantastic facilities in a superb location. 

In Spring 2019, We Do Tennis were tasked to review their junior tennis programme and produced and implemented recommendations that have led to substantial increases in both the finance and the number of players on the programme. 

After the success of these changes we were asked to complete a full review of all of the club operations. This included H & S, finance, membership, marketing and HR. With full agreement with the club we have changed a number of policies, procedures and operational aspects that have seen a dramatic increase in both members and profit at the club. 

As an example membership at the club had been falling consistently for the past 3 years, reaching a low in July 2019. Following the changes made, the club has seen membership growth since, with an increase of over 200 members, a 16% increase, equivalent to a yearly financial benefit of over £30,000 in membership income alone. 

Having worked with the Club over the past year, and helping them during lock-down, we are hugely proud of the impact we have made, and the club is delighted with the return on the investment they have made. 

"Having worked with We Do Tennis throughout the past year the work they have completed has been amazing, far exceeding our expectations. Both the financial and membership numbers have improved dramatically and we are now focused on moving the club forwards rather than saving the club."

Eddy Stallworthy - Club Manager, Chapel Allerton Tennis & Squash Club