Young stars' funding racket
They are tennis number ones and Olympic hopefuls but Darcy and Cassidy Crawford have been told to come up with £24,000 a year to achieve their sporting dream. They are tennis number ones and Olympic hopefuls but Darcy and Cassidy Crawford have been told to come up with £24,000 a year to achieve their sporting dream. The Tipton teenagers say that with coaching, hiring courts for five hours a day, rackets, trainers and fees for entering tournaments, they face costs of £1,000 every month. At the moment their parents Ray and Stephanie, who own the Comedian pub in Tipton, are struggling to find the £150 a week just for hiring tennis courts at Tipton Sports Academy. "I don't think we would have got involved in the sport if we realised how much it was going to cost," Ray said. "In their age groups they are both number one in the rankings for Staffordshire and the Black Country." Read the full story in the Express & Star.
The Tipton teenagers say that with coaching, hiring courts for five hours a day, rackets, trainers and fees for entering tournaments, they face costs of £1,000 every month.
At the moment their parents Ray and Stephanie, who own the Comedian pub in Tipton, are struggling to find the £150 a week just for hiring tennis courts at Tipton Sports Academy.
"I don't think we would have got involved in the sport if we realised how much it was going to cost," Ray said. "In their age groups they are both number one in the reankings for Staffordshire and the Black Country.
"To play at Tipton Sports Academy is only £5 an hour, but when they are playing for around five hours a day the cost builds up.
"The courts are some of the best facilities in this area and were built with lottery funding to help children that don't come from rich families."
Ray says lessons are £15 an hour, competitions are £20, shoes cost £60 and it is £150 for a racket, with re-stringing costing £15.
"We can't be spending that kind of money," says Ray. "At the moment we are just paying the minimum but it is a struggle.
"We have spoken to the Lawn Tennis Association but haven't received any joy and we applied to Sandwell Council's Triple S funding scheme and were told we could have £250 a year but in return Cassidy and Darcy would have to take part in publicity shots for the council.
"That £250 a year wouldn't even pay for their trainers. Virgin Trains have sponsored all their travel to competitions and yet they don't expect anything in return."
Darcy, aged 17, and Cassidy, 14, say for the last three years they have been playing tennis full-time.
They are both so dedicated to the sport that neither of them go to school and both learn via correspondence courses.
They moved to the UK from Australia seven years ago.
"We have both always been into tennis," says Darcy. "I like playing because it is down to you how well you do and you can't blame anyone else if you lose a match. When I first started people said I wouldn't make it because I should have started playing seriously when I was five. I have had to work really hard to show them that I can do it."
Ray says it would be great is Sandwell Council could break the rules and allow the children to use the courts for free when they are standing empty.
"We have been told that we can use the outside courts at Tipton Tennis Courts for free, but they are regularly closed if the weather is bad or if there is moss growing on the courts," he says. "Every day the inside tennis courts are standing empty and all we want is for them to let two gifted children improve their tennis skills."
Triple S (Start Up, Shape Up, Sign Up) is led by Sandwell Sports Council and chairman Ian Jones said: "We have to be realistic and work within our budget. We also have to ensure we support a wide range of sports and take a balanced approach to applications from them all. We have £25,000 available, which is a relatively small amount spread across the whole borough."
Paul Slater, chief executive of Sandwell Leisure Trust, said: "The price for the courts at Tipton Sports Academy is as low as anywhere else in the country. As members of Tipton Tennis Club, his children are able to use the outside courts free of charge."