Published: April 27, 2008
Burnham-On-Sea tennis academy chooses up-and-coming players

A tennis academy set up in memory of a young Burnham-On-Sea tennis player who died last autumn is moving from strength to strength, having conducted a 'sift' day at the town's Avenue Tennis Club on Saturday (April 26th).

The Nathan Edwards Tennis Academy was set up following the tragic death of 17-year-old Nathan in a road accident last November.

He was a talented member of Burnham's Avenue Tennis Club and a former King Alfred School pupil.

The academy has already held two 'sift' days at the Burnham club in its search for talented children who will receive extensive training from the group.

Nathan's mother, Sally, has been present throughout the days and is very pleased with the progress made so far.

"So far, ten children have been offered places in the academy," said Sally.

"Others have been offered places in other groups that we have and we are hoping to see four to five more children in the next few days."

These pictures show coaches Jamie Allen and James Tuckett explaining foot work exercises to the young players. The girl in the red shirt is Jamie Cole, 10, from Hamp School in Bridgwater.

Avenue player Rhiannon Parsons, 14, has also been working with the children, feeding balls, going through exercises and demonstrating techniques. She has been selected to play in the Somerset County Under 14s squad. She enjoyed working with the children so much she hopes to get into training as a coach in a few years time!

The Academy has also been helped by Dan Fella, a performance coach at Bristol's David Lloyd Centre, who was a friend and mentor of Nathan, and enabled him to play in the David Lloyd men's team.

The academy is set to officially start during the week commencing 5th May.