b'THE ELLESMERIAN Five years on. Thank you also to our Captain, Mey Funke, who has been a It has been five years since the opening of the Ellesmere Collegemember of the Academy for three years despite originally Indoor Tennis Centre, known to most as the tennis barn. It has been acoming to the College for one term. She saw us through the huge success both in terms of the increase in numbers playing thebarren Covid years and we wish her good luck for all she plans171game and in the rise in standards at all levels. 120 students are havingfor her future. lessons each week (they are never rained off!) and a record number are now in training squads at development and performance level. SWAdditionally, the indoor facility enables the College to host tournaments and competitions, with over 60 being held at the College this year. This acts as a shop window for all the other activities in the College and it would not be unreasonable to suggest that the steep rise in numbers at the College this year is at least partly to do with the exposure tennis offers to a wide audience from around the UK. Our overseas numbers in the Academy are also on the rise as our reputation grows far and wide.Farewell and thank you Unfortunately, we said farewell to Matt Lee this year. He moves to London to be with his partner. He has been a performance coach at the College for six years and his contribution to the Academy will be greatly missed. Matt has played to a high standard nationally and it was no surprise that he secured a coaching position at one of the countrys leading performance academies at Halton. We wish him luck and feel sure that one day he will be back.As one door closed another two opened and we are delighted to welcome Eifion Jones and Kyle Harvey, who join us from Wrexham. Eifion is a performance coach with a great track record. In fact, some of the current members of our Academy were coached by him prior to joining Ellesmere. Kyle also has a great reputation, and is known regionally as a conscientious and hard-working motivator. Both have LTA Level 4 qualifications and a wealth of experience. We hope they quickly feel part of the Elite Coaching team and enjoy their time at Ellesmere.'