Fenland Tennis Club Hopes Olympics Can Change Image Of Tennis

Paris 2024 starts in less than a week

A Cambridgeshire tennis club hopes this summer’s Olympic Games will change the image of the sport and encourage more people to try it out.

The opening ceremony will take place in Paris in five days’ time, where Great Britain will be aiming to finish in the top five of the medal table.

Kathryn Booth is secretary at Chatteris Tennis Club and hopes the event will make a difference.

“A lot of kids are more interested in football because football is a more popular sport than tennis. Tennis is traditionally seen as elitist. But we want to break that, so that more people think it is for everyone,” she said.

“You will always have that (elitist culture) from the past, but I think that will gradually disappear. If we can then make it known that tennis is for everyone, that can help.

“There could be an influence”

UK Sport has invested £315 million from the government and the National Lottery into 53 Olympic and Paralympic sports in preparation for the Paris Games.

Kathryn hopes this will have an impact not only on other British players, but also on amateur players.

“There may be other players playing at the Olympics who could have the same impact, so we’ll have to see what happens, but I think there could be an impact on the club or clubs in general,” she said.

“I hope that more children will participate (through the Olympics) and that more members will come, people who want to try tennis. But maybe there will be a boost through the Olympics.”

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