COURT was well and truly in session as close to 100 children took up their tennis rackets and smashed their way through the summer holidays.

Youngsters from Barrow and Furness took advantage of two three-day camps with experienced coach Stefan Jones on the surfaces at Hawcoat Park.

The sessions served up a wealth of coaching, with each week seeing kids from local schools working on developing fundamental skills, agility, coordination and speed.

The grass and asphalt courts were busy across the two weeks as the children worked with Jones on their ground strokes and basic tactics and the older players among them looked in more depth at five game strategies – consistency, controlling space, controlling time, playing to strengths and identifying players weaknesses.

Jones was happy with what he saw from the budding players, and said: “I was very impressed with the development, improvement and general understanding of the children over the two camps.

“Although a high percentage were regular players, the beginners enjoyed the challenge and clearly profited from the more experienced.

“The camps were each over-subscribed unfortunately and not all applicants were successful due to the high number. We’ve got a lot of kids playing tennis now, but we don’t have the facilities in the town.”

Jones is planning to run tennis camps again next year and is working with more than 120 children during term time in Barrow.

With a lack of public tennis courts in Barrow, Jones is pleased to be able to provide some access to the sport.

He added: “I would like to thank Chetwynde School and Hawcoat Park Sports Club for not keeping tennis an option for children in Barrow.

“The impact has seen more players being recruited, players are also now coming from Grange and Ulverston and joining the squads.”

The junior squads run by Jones feature no more than six players each, allowing the coach to work more closely with the children.

Anyone interested in joining one of the squads can visit www.stefanjonestennis.co.uk for more information.