On the 16/17^th May 2015, the first of this year's National Great British Tennis Weekends kicked off in style amidst lovely summer weather.

The weekend saw tennis clubs and venues across Britain open their courts to members of the public so that thousands could have the opportunity to enjoy free tennis and get introduced to the game.

Bedford Park and Riverside Tennis Club were the venues in Bedford and the events were fortunate enough to have five University of Bedfordshire tennis club members help with the running of the days. Tennis Ambassador Louise O'Donnell (2^nd year), Rob Tuffrey (2^nd year), Chris Pullen (2^nd year), Sam Burrell (BA Sport and PE graduate) and myself (MSc student) all volunteered to help coach on behalf of the Lawn Tennis Association and support the efforts to grow tennis in Bedford.

Everyone's hard work was particularly impressive on Saturday in Bedford Park, where we ran various mini tennis and adult sessions for members of the public.

The level of quality in the coaching sessions was consistently high throughout the day with extra mini tennis and adult sessions being put on due to the high demand and amazing feedback that was received from players and parents alike.

The success of the coaching over the weekend can in part be credited to the Get into Sport programme's coaching scholarship scheme, which has enabled all of us the opportunity to attend coaching courses and subsequently find work in the local area as a result during our time at University of Bedfordshire.

A successful weekend such as this highlights the links that are continuously being developed between the university and local clubs and organisations and demonstrates great examples in giving back to the local community and who knows, in years to come these students may be credited with finding the next Andy Murray…