WWC wins prestigious LTA Club of the Year Award

West Worthing Club were delighted to collect the 2023 LTA Club of the Year Award after being named County Winners for Sussex in 2023.

The Club, which accepted the award at the LTA Awards ceremony held by Tennis Sussex at the Amex Stadium in February 2023, was one of nine nominees in contention for the coveted title.

Club Chairman, William Naunton, said “It is a great honour to have been awarded Club of the Year in Sussex for 2023. Although West Worthing is one of the larger Sussex racquets clubs, it comes as a surprise to many that we are still run by a dedicated group of volunteers and are not-for profit. The enthusiasm of our volunteers and members helps drive our aim to be a progressive club that welcomes everyone and where tennis is at the heart of what we provide.”

West Worthing has been busy as it emerged from the challenges of covid. Their thriving junior and adult coaching programme, which is open to all, has been reinvigorated and they have sought to re-engage with local schools and community groups to help open up tennis to as wide a community as possible. This is not just at their Titnore Lane site but through their partnership with Adur & Worthing Council at Homefield Park, where they deliver an affordable tennis coaching programme.

The Club is proud to run one of the largest LTA approved tennis competition programmes within Sussex with events for all ages and abilities running throughout the year on their indoor and outdoor courts. The summer months are when the Club really comes into its own when its eleven grass courts play host to national grade tennis competitions including the LTA British Tour and LTA County Cup. These events, which attract pro and semi-pro players often aspiring to play at Wimbledon, provide fantastic spectator opportunities for the community.

The past few years have seen the Club invest heavily in their facilities to ensure a top quality multi-sports environment. To follow the installation of new energy-efficient, automated LED tennis floodlighting and resurfaced tennis courts during 2021, the club sought to improve their sustainability in 2022 by investing in ninety solar panels which have been sited on their clubhouse roof. These changes together with the introduction of sensor controlled lighting throughout the clubhouse has helped reduce energy usage by around 30%.

William Naunton continued “We are currently exploring bringing padel tennis to the club and to Worthing. Padel tennis is relatively new to the UK but is currently the fastest growing sport in Europe. As it’s easy to learn, we hope it will appeal to a wide range of people and make racquet sports even more accessible to those in our local area.”

The Club’s success sees it automatically progress as a nominee for the LTA Regional Awards to be held in April.

Other LTA award winners from West Worthing Club include Daniel Bartlett as Official of the Year and George Naunton, who was presented with the Brian Edwards Award for his contribution to the 18U Boys County Cup team in 2022.