About Our Club
The club has been running for several years. Initially it was set up as as part of the recreational sport programme, but since 2012 has been run independently within the Sports Union.
We are committed to providing opportunities to anyone with an interest in tennis, regardless of their ability and available time to commit to extra-curricular sport. As such we offer competition, coaching, and socials aimed at the entire membership. We aim to improve our tennis skills, but also to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves within the club.
Facilities
From the start of the 2023 academic year, the club will use the brand new 6 court Oriam Indoor Tennis Centre for all training and matches. The facility will open in late summer 2023 and will allow all Heriot-Watt students and Tennis Club members the opportunity to play tennis on campus all year round.
Our Club Charter
We aim to provide the following service to all our members:
- To provide an opportunity for members to gain a worthwhile social experience through the sport.
- To provide a range of competitive opportunities to allow members to compete individually or for the University.
What does a typical session involve?
We have a variety of different training session suited to a range of abilities, from complete beginners to recreational players to competitive team players. The training times can bee seen in the below table.
| Monday | 7:00-9:00 | Team Training |
| Monday | 17:00-18:30 | Development Session |
| Monday | 18:30-20:00 | Development Session |
| Wednesday | 15:00-17:00 | Recreational Session |
| Wednesday | 13:00-19:00 | BUCS Matches |
Our brilliant coach Finn McLean (Level 3 Qualified) runs all sessions from beginners up to our team. He is supported by our dedicated committee, who are motivated and eager to help out.
Beginners/ intermediates
We have a fun warm-up to improve general fitness, increase flexibility and improve on agility, balance, co-ordination and speed .
We also give a general introduction to the game and work on the basics of tennis and the foundation of shots and fun competition within the class.
Advanced
We have a tennis-specific warm up to improve on ABC’s and prevent injury as well as to improve stamina and fitness. We also offer development coaching on specific shots, game strategies and competitions.
Competitions
Team trials are in week 3, where the selection of our 2 women’s and 2 men’s teams are decided by the team captains. The team membership is an additional £20 on top of the regular membership fees.
Both the men’s and women’s teams compete every week against other universities as part of BUCS. The format of the BUCS matches is both singles and doubles.
On top of this, friendlies are organized throughout the year to allow some friendly competition and give everyone the opportunity to improve their competitive tennis skills.
Furthermore, we have internal club championships. In Semester 1 we have our singles club championships, where every member is welcome to take part. Similarly, over the course of semester 2, we have our doubles club championships. These are organized to allow everyone the opportunity for some friendly competition against other members and friends.
Scholarships
While the university does not offer a specific tennis scholarship, if you are a high performance athlete you can still apply for one of our individual scholarships and find out more information here.