The Heron Tennis Centre was opened in 2004 and a vital part of the centre was having a coaching programme that provided high quality coaching for all ages and standards, including an academy for its best players, which led to the formation of Ace Tennis Coaching & Academy.
Heron and Ace have been designed to be unlike other tennis providers in Britain and we have modelled ourselves on clubs and coaching programmes you can typically find in Europe.
Research of successful coaching programmes in the likes of Germany and Sweden, combined with the extensive coaching and playing experience of our coaching team, have led to the coaching services that we provide. We aim to be friendly, welcoming to all, caring, relaxed, professional, affordable, and we aspire to provide a quality centre, coaching programme and academy.
We aim to create an environment and culture where adults want to meet, play, have coaching, get fitter, improve and socialise with friends. For juniors, we strive to have a youth club-like atmosphere where children can not only play and learn the game, but also hang out with friends. We look to introduce juniors to adults at the centre to practice together, which helps the young players mature on and off court. In terms of our best Ace Academy players, we try to be architects of a culture where aspiring players can foster a passion for the game, making them to want to practice and compete with friends so often that, coupled with the range of opportunities we uniquely provide, allows them to progress to play at the highest level. As they progress, the best players may use Heron as base for their training as seniors or Heron may simply be their “tennis home” where they have developed before moving away to a university tennis programme for example.
