IN THE year in which Andy Murray led Britain to Davis Cup victory, tennis has never been more popular.

In the last couple of years, there has been a drive to encourage more girls to play tennis. Vale Tennis Academy has been given funding from Tennis Wales (the national governing body for tennis) for an outreach programme in schools in Penarth, Cogan and Llandough.

Building on Vale Tennis Academy’s previous links, schools in the area promoted tennis starter sessions which are taking place indoors on the Badminton courts at Penarth Leisure Centre.

Although the main focus of the programme is to encourage girls to play tennis, Vale Tennis Academy have also used the opportunity to introduce mini tennis to both girls and boys, and give adults and teens access to the sport through Cardio Tennis. The Friday girls-only session and the Saturday mini tennis session equips children aged between four and eight with the skills and confidence to serve, rally and score.

The Cardio Tennis session that takes place every Friday evening is a fun and active tennis session to music. Teenagers and adults can not only practice their favourite strokes but also burn in excess of 600kcal per session.

Vale Tennis Academy’s head of development, Tom Bellingham, said “We’ve been thrilled with the uptake and enthusiasm shown by the children, their parents and our adult players and hope to build on this next term”.

Vale Tennis Academy’s indoor sessions at Penarth Leisure Centre are encouraging more people to join the programme in 2016. Players with the programme will then be invited to Penarth Lawn Tennis Club when the programme moves outdoors in the spring.

For more information please visit valetennisacademy.co.uk or call 07909 987359.