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01621 85 86 86 
Special guest of honour, Formula One Driver Mark Webber recently opened the newly refurbished tennis court installation at Aston Park Lawn Tennis Club in Aston Clinton, his Buckinghamshire hometown. Webber showed off a few forehands on the tennis court surfacing in a knockabout with three club members, before taking welcome shelter from the pouring rain to sign autographs.
The tennis court construction came after Aston Park Tennis Club secured Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund. The Inspired Facilities fund is part of the £135 million “Places People Play” legacy programme that works to bring the pride of the Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.
Aston Park Tennis Club received a generous £50,000 from the Inspired Facilities Fund and put the cash towards improving their facilities and attracting new members by refurbishing their tennis court installations, installing floodlights and also building a brand new netball court.
The three newly reconstructed floodlit tennis courts, together with a viewing area for spectators, will give the club a huge boost by allowing them to offer the village modern, attractive tennis courts and provide for a bigger demand by extending the hours of play. The new netball/tennis facility or Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) will also bring a new game to Aston Park Tennis Club, opening the doors to a host of new members.
The club’s chairman, Barbara Wilkinson said everyone was extremely grateful for the funding and was quoted in the Bucks Herald as saying, “With the upgrading of our facilities to include a floodlit netball court we will be introducing a new sport to the village as well as offering an expanded tennis programme.”
Aston Park Tennis Club put the job out to tender through consulting company Sports Facility Planning & Design, who were employed on behalf of the club to find the right contractor for this flagship project. After submitting a bid last September, tennis court contractors ETC Sports were only too pleased to win the tender to perform the tennis courts repairs by constructing porous asphalt tennis courts and delivering extended playing time through the installation of floodlights.
As experienced tennis court installers, ETC Sports completed the project to reconstruct three porous asphalt tennis courts, provide new fencing and create a viewing area for spectators in under three months. One of the three court surfaces was created as a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) to provide dual use as both a tennis, and a netball court for the members of the Tennis Club.
Just days before Christmas, the tennis court installers were ready for the tennis court surfaces to be sprayed – however this had to be scheduled for the springtime when the right spraying conditions were in place. So ETC Sports put temporary line markings on the tennis courts so that members of Aston Park Tennis Club could continue to play winter tennis whilst waiting for the courts to be colour sprayed.
The final touch was added to the tennis court surfaces when the colour sprayers completed the job this spring, so now the courts are resplendent in their proper colours.
Barbara Wilkinson, the clubs secretary, said ”Despite our project manager and ETC themselves being sceptical about our colour choice for the courts, everyone now agrees that the new facility looks stunning. We recently hosted the preliminary rounds of a junior Tennis Europe tournament and even the visitors from abroad were impressed. We have noted that the courts dry off quickly after rain and even when wet the surface feels secure.”
Refurbishing tennis courts may at first sound like a costly exercise, but the long term benefits are sure to boost membership numbers through providing extended playing hours and increased enjoyment of the game and facilities.
What’s more, the time to do it has never been better as the Inspired Facilities Fund has been set up specifically to make it easier for local community and volunteer groups to refurbish tennis courts as well as improving other sports facilities.
For more information on applying for funding from the Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund, visit www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities/
For more information on what we do, and how ETC Sports can help you update your tennis courts, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Client Details
Aston Park Lawn Tennis Club Aston Clinton Park London Road Aston Clinton Buckinghamshire HP22 5HL Website: www.astonparktennis.co.uk 
Contract Details
Description: Refurbishment of Three All Weather Porous Asphalt Tennis Courts with Fencing Contract Value: £72,616.00 Duration of Works: 8weeks Year Completed: 2012
Posted: August 6, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
ETC Sports is always delighted to take on a project that makes a real community impact. So when we were asked to transform an Essex car park located at Heybridge Alternative Provision School into a brand new Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) we naturally jumped at the chance. The new facility will give the children who attend the centre an attractive facility to play football, tennis and basketball.
Heybridge Alternative Provision School offers a wide range of services for secondary school children who have learning and behavioural difficulties. Thanks to funding from Essex County Council to make the improvements, this transformation will inspire the youngsters to play sports in a safe enclosed all weather surface area outside. Before the MUGA was built, the children had a grassy pitch on which they could play some sports but capacity was very limited.
Premises Manager Phil Davis says, “The MUGA has made a real difference to the school – we now have more curriculum based PE activities for the children to participate in and they can use the area in all weathers. Previously all we had was the grassy area which didn’t give the children any basketball or tennis opportunities, and obviously got very muddy in wet weather. We are all very pleased with the MUGA.”
Having learned that Essex County Council had a strict budget of £20 000 + VAT for creating the MUGA from start to finish, it was necessary for ETC Sports to put together a strong proposal that would come in at the right price, but also provide good workmanship and materials. ETC Sports’ 25 years of experience in creating all-weather surfaces and multi use games areas alongside our black book of trusted suppliers all contributed to a well-considered and well-planned proposal which came in on budget. That equipped us to win the bid and start work on the 28th January 2013.
In response to the brief ETC Sports constructed a Porous Asphalt Multi-Use Games Area. This surface is ideal for private, club and school use as it needs very little maintenance throughout the year and is less slippery after raining. This is down to the porosity of the surface which means it can be played on soon after it has rained, making it an ideal all weather surface.
The area was designed for five-a-side football with two goal recesses built in. A basketball post and backboard were integrated into the sports fencing. We used a double wire panel fencing system supplied by Zaun Fencing. This kind of fencing is a popular choice for multi use games areas for many reasons. It is made from a highly durable material that offers high rebound – almost similar to a hard surface. This allows the ball to bounce back at almost the same angle it strikes the fence. In addition is it ‘graffiti-proof’ and requires little or no maintenance as it not susceptible to rotting or rust.
Once the all weather surface had been laid, it was coated with an acrylic colour coating which prolongs the surface life of the court, and then painted with appropriate line markings in different colours for tennis, football and basketball. The project moved swiftly and smoothly, with all the work completed on 9th April 2013 when the court was colour sprayed.
On completion Davis has told us: “From planning to production, the construction of the MUGA through ETC Sports was a breeze. I had an initial idea about what it would entail, but I was put at ease when I saw the firm’s examples of finished all weather surfaces, and how the courts would have line markings in various colours to differentiate between each sport.
“Now that the facility is in place it is an absolutely fantastic addition to the Heybridge Centre. It has made a real difference to the day to day lives of the students, enabling them to take part in a much wider range of practical activities within a first class environment.”
Client Details Heybridge Alternative Provision School The Street Heybridge Maldon Essex CM9 4NB Telephone: 01621 856 275 Website: http://www.heybridgeaps.co.uk/
Contract Details Description: Refurbishment of a Multi-Use Games Area with Fencing Contract Value: £20,000.00 Duration of Works: 4weeks Year Completed: 2013
Posted: August 6, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
When the London Borough of Tower Hamlets decided to make a major investment into their tennis court constructions, choosing the right provider was a vital decision. The whole team at ETC Sports was delighted when we learnt in January 2012 that our bid had been accepted to complete this exciting project to benefit the local and wider East London communities.
We faced a stringent deadline to repair tennis courts across the borough’s Victoria Park and Bethnal Green Garden sites. Come what may, the renovation and tennis court surfacing had to be completed in time for a very special open day in May 2012. But that didn’t faze our skilled technicians. They are only too accustomed to accommodating large scale tennis court construction and renovation work to tight time restrictions.
Posted: August 6, 2015 @ 2:18 pm