tennis camp info

please read carefully

Thanks for booking tennis camps at Sutton Tennis & Squash Club, 19 Devonshire Road SM2 5HH. Please see below for lots of info about the camps………

Lunch at tennis camps (NEW)

We are now offering lunch at tennis camps as an optional paid extra, even for children who are only attending the morning or afternoon. Lunch must be booked. Click below for full details and booking.

Info & booking

Arriving & signing in and out

Please try to arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time of your child’s session – it can be very disruptive to the camps if several children arrive late. It is also not the ideal experience for the child.

Morning and full day session

Signing in takes place in between 9am & 9.25am.
Signing in is in the clubhouse. Children must be signed in by an adult – if your child arrives unattended, we will assume that they are allowed to leave unattended at the end.

Parents of 3-4 year olds are required to stay. For all other age groups, you are welcome to leave after signing in.

Signing out is at 10.30am for the tots session, 12.30pm for the morning session and 3.30pm for the afternoon / full day. Signing out is also from the clubhouse.

Afternoon only session

Signing in takes place at 1.25pm.
Signing in is in the clubhouse. Children must be signed in by an adult – if your child arrives unattended, we will assume that they are allowed to leave unattended at the end. .
Signing out is at 3.30pm. Please collect your child from the clubhouse.

Parking (please be prepared)

In Devonshire Road and many of the surrounding roads, it is mostly permit parking Monday to Friday 9-11am . Please don’t be tempted to park across a drive or blocking the road in any way while you run in. There is a much better option. Directly over the road from Devonshire Road is The Highway. There is plenty of parking there except between 10 & 11am and 2 & 3pm.

So this is perfect for everyone except parents of 3-4 year olds, who need to stay until 10.30am. For you, a good option is The Gallop, where you can park on the LEFT with no restrictions except between 12 & 1pm. See pic below………

What to bring / wear

Children should bring drinks, snacks and a refillable water bottle. We have a nut-free policy, so please avoid giving your child any food containing nuts.
Clothing should be sports-wear and shoes should be trainers. Under no circumstances should studs, crocs, or casual shoes be worn as these damage the tennis courts and are also not safe.
Children should wear appropriate clothing for the weather, including hats, sunblock and rain coat when relevant.
Children should bring rackets if they have them, but we have spares if not.
Children who are attending the full day should bring lunch (unless you are booking lunch with us). We have a nut-free policy, so please avoid giving your child any food containing nuts.

Bad Weather

Tennis camps go ahead in all weather and we shelter indoors and do other activities in really bad weather.

Safeguarding

The safety and well-being of your child is the number one priority. You can see our safeguarding policy HERE, but here are some details specific to the camps.

Camps are run by Head Coaches, Karl Stowell & Liam Rabbitte who are both LTA Qualified, Accredited and experienced coaches. They are on site for most of the time during camps, but if not, we have a number of well qualified coaches who take charge.
All coaches have a valid DBS (criminal record check), but equally importantly, have been interviewed, references taken and in most cases have been at the club for years.
We are a team, ranging from highly qualified coaches to teenage assistants who help us. We have in-house training so that we all have the same principles about tennis coaching and safety.
There will always be multiple coaches who are first aid trained and we have a first aid kit and defibrillator on site.

Use of Sutton Highfields Tennis & Petanque Club (SHTPC)

There will be times when we take certain groups to SHTPC. It is a 5 minute walk out of the back gate of our club (STSC). The only age groups to do this would be the 13-16 age group or the 11-12 age group, but we never quite know when it will happen as we will always stay at STSC if courts are available. We take safety very seriously and groups will only ever go there with one of our experienced and well qualified coaches. There is nothing for you to do as we’ll walk the children there and back.

We hope your child has a great time at the tennis camp. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@suttontenniscoaching.com or Karl on 07976 547239 or via the form below.

FAQs

What is the content of the day?

For 3 to 4 year olds, it’s just the one hour, which consists of all kinds of ball skills, movement skills and basic tennis, using balloons, bean bags, juggle scarves, beach balls – anything to keep it fun and help them to start learning the game.

For everyone else, we get them into groups at 9.30am according to their age, although we may move children into different groups as necessary as we get to know them.

The sessions then consist of warm ups, agility, balance and co-ordination skills, coaching of all the shots, drills, fun games, competition & matchplay (where appropriate).

Children who stay for the whole day have lunch from 12.30-1.30.

What to bring & wear

If you have your own racket, bring it. If not, we can supply one.
We take snack breaks so please bring snacks.
Bring a drink and a refillable water bottle.
Clothing can be any sports clothes. Trainers are a must. Please no studs, crocs, sandals or casual shoes.
Bring appropriate clothing for the weather – hot, cold, wet…..
Sun cream for hot weather.

Bad Weather

We go ahead in all weather as we have a programme of activities inside. This may consist of mini tennis in the squash courts, table tennis, indoor games, arts and crafts. We’ll stay outside as much as possible, but in really bad weather, we’ll go inside and get back out as soon as possible. Either way, you know the camp is always going ahead.

Is there an extended day option?

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer an extended day option. We did provide this service in the past, but discontinued it a few years ago due to insufficient demand to justify the logistical challenges involved.

Do you accept childcare vouchers?

Unfortunately, we do not currently accept childcare vouchers as we are not Ofsted registered.

Can my under-5 child attend the morning, afternoon or full day?

Children aged 3 and 4 will normally attend our 1-hour Tots session (9:30–10:30am).

We do occasionally make exceptions for children who are nearly 5, allowing them to join the 5–6 year old group. However, this is only possible under the following conditions:

It must be agreed in advance — please email us at info@suttontenniscoaching.com before booking.
This applies only to 4-year-olds (never 3-year-olds), and usually only to older, more advanced 4-year-olds.
A parent must remain contactable and available to collect the child early if needed.
If the session goes well, you will then be welcome to book the longer sessions going forward.

Important note: In our experience, this arrangement works for some children but not others. A child who stands out in their own age group can sometimes struggle when placed with older children, particularly because the 5–6 year old sessions involve a lot of paired work.

Our advice is not to push too hard for an early move-up. Many children have a much more positive experience (and make better progress) by being one of the stronger players in the Tots group rather than potentially struggling in an older group.