Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative
About the WJTI
The WJTI is the trail blazing community tennis initiative run by The All England Club. It is a unique scheme which broadens the base at grassroots level through its school visits and offers players the chance to develop their skills and enjoy the game in the sessions held at the Club. Who knows, the next British Wimbledon Champion may be found here!
To date over 100,000 children have enjoyed their first experience of tennis with the WJTI with 2,500 children receiving scholarships for free tennis sessions at The All England Club. The Initiative has attracted much praise and attention as it succeeds in all areas from playground to performance.
WJTI Facts
- The WJTI began in 2001 and is a community tennis initiative run by The All England Club in partnership with Merton and Wandsworth. In total Dan Bloxham and his team of coaches have visited over 450 schools and given more than 100,000 kids their first experience of tennis.
- Around 300 children per day also attend free tennis coaching and skills sessions held at the Club 45 weekends a year.
- Squad of 45 selected players receive additional individual coaching before and after school.
- At the Championships: Selected players from the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative (WJTI) entertain spectators with a mixture of tennis exercises and general sports skills and drills on the middle Saturday and final Sunday.
- Around 250 children and their parents who have shown particular commitment and enthusiasm throughout the year will visit the Club to see the players practising on the Championship courts.
- WJTI has one international player, Lila Simpson (11), a further two at National level, five regional and over 20 county standard players. WJTI players compete at every level from 8 & Under Mini Red to International.
- Winners of Surrey Mini League Red and Orange Girls 2008 HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.
- The largest national junior grass court tournament involving some 20,000 young players.
- The National Finals, 64 boys and 64 girls, made up of the 44 County winners and 20 best runners-up are held on Wimbledon's Championship grass courts in August.
How to join the WJTI
How can I join the WJTI?
Entry into the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative is by invitation following a school visit by members of the WJTI team. Each week one school in Merton and one in Wandsworth receive a full day of coaching from the WJTI team and, after each visit, a small number of promising children from each school may be invited back to receive free tennis training at Wimbledon every weekend until they reach sixteen years of age. For those not selected the school receives information on tennis coaching and clubs locally as it is not possible to offer membership to every child.
How can my school get a visit from WJTI?
Your P.E. Coordinator should contact the Sports Department at the local council. They arrange all school visits on behalf of the Initiative.
How much training is there?
On joining the WJTI children will be able to attend a one hour weekend training session on Saturday and/or Sunday
I'm a WJTI player and I’m having problems logging in. What should I do?
- Check that you are using the correct UserID
- Check you are using the correct password, remember that the password is case sensitive
- If you have forgotten your password, please use the 'Forgot Password' facility on the login page. A new password will be sent to the e-mail address you entered at registration
- If you are still having difficulty please complete the Contact Us form with details of your problem
I cannot find the information that I am after. What should i do?
Click here to contact the WJTI team.
Latest news
The WJTI will re-commence training at the end of January 2013.
To obtain the calendar for 2013, please click here to contact the WJTI team.
