Our Story
The Tennis Tykes phenomenon is the creation of Caroline Buncall, a trained and qualified LTA Coach who has worked in tennis for over 10 years. Caroline has, in the past, worked for the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), as a County Tennis Manager and as part of her role has overseen the setting up of tennis coaching and competitive programmes, working with clubs, coaches and schools to ensure the delivery of high quality tennis provision.
Latterly, she headed up the prestigious Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club as their General Manager. Its coaching programme has received many accreditations including LTA Satellite Performance Club and Mini Tennis Accreditation, in recognition of its quality coaching programme and its development of a number of national standard juniors.
Caroline saw the success of the pre school tennis programme at Ilkley and the positive effects tennis has had on the social, emotional and physical development of young children through the sessions. It has been fantastic to see children as young as 2 hitting a moving ball over a net using the adapted equipment and by 4 and 5 starting to engage in simple rallies.
Her concept of offering tennis to a wider audience by offering the sessions through the non-traditional tennis club route using local community centres and church halls has meant that a huge number of children now have the opportunity of playing tennis at a local venue from a young age.
Tennis is principally about having fun and there is an abundance of fun in all the sessions from the cheeky Tennis Tykes characters to using nursery rhyme music for warm ups with younger children.
Caroline knows the importance of keeping the sessions at the right level for the children having her own little Tykes in the form of her own son, Alexander and daughter, Sophia!
So why not book onto a session today and experience the Tennis Tykes phenomenon...
