The number of people playing tennis in the East of Scotland has increased in the past 12 months, a new survey has revealed.
The total number of registered club players now stands at 24,161 – an increase of just over 3,500 players on court at the end of 2023 compared to the previous year.
Of the players registered in the region, over 8,300 were juniors aged under 16, an increase of 1,810 from 2022.
Tennis is now one of the leading participation sports in Scotland above such sports as rugby.
The rise comes after sustained efforts from Tennis Scotland and East of Scotland Tennis to drive participation by making the game relevant, accessible, welcoming, enjoyable and providing plenty of opportunities for competition.
Viki Mendelssohn, Chair of East of Scotland LTA said: “This is a phenomenal set of results for the tennis community in East of Scotland. It shows what the power of having great clubs and supporting infrastructure can achieve.
“What’s particularly encouraging is how many young people are taking up tennis, the result of many years of effort from Participation Officers, Edinburgh Council, clubs and coaches working with youngsters in the region, and we look forward to supporting them as they continue their tennis journey.
“East of Scotland invest heavily in its juniors and seniors performance pathways to develop current and future talent and county teams are then supported to compete successfully across the UK.
“We continue to strive to be the top county in Scotland and achieve outstanding results on and off the court.”
Andrew Raitt, Head of Participation at Tennis Scotland, said: “Tennis Scotland is working hard with all its partners across Scotland to open up our sport to more people and we are delighted to have seen significant growth across the country.
“Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved in tennis in Scotland, participation levels among adults and children are soaring and club memberships are the highest on record.
“This is clearly echoed by the growth in the East of Scotland and I want to thank our regional Participation Manager Grant Shearer, all the coaches, development teams, activators, volunteers, officials and the East district for their incredible efforts.”
Participation figures are calculated by adding the number of registered players at each of the 53 affiliated member clubs in the East of Scotland region.
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