To highlight the nominations process for the upcoming Cheshire LTA Awards, last week we posted an interview with Tom Brown, who won the LTA National Award for Official of the year. This week we've turn our attention to the other Cheshire National award winner, Nichola Smith, who won Development Coach of the Year. Enjoy!
What does winning a national LTA award mean to you?
I am quite a humble person who doesn't like the limelight with regards to my professional life, however this meant everything to me. From being acknowledged by my venue and its members, to being rewarded nationally, it's all been a bit crazy if I'm honest!
I simply go about my day to day work normally with little fuss where possible, but reading the words people had written about me, the work I have done being acknowledged and the reading about different community groups that I have exposed to our sport, it is somewhat overwhelming.
On a personal level, it has come at the perfect time, having just set up my own business, A Game Academy, so this acknowledgement goes hand in hand with trying to make my mark further in tennis and education.
Tell us about the journey from being nominated to winning the national award.
I was nominated by my own venue, Wallasey Manor, and found out just before the Cheshire Awards that I had been shortlisted. I went to the Cheshire Awards evening for a night out really, having heard of the "big" names I was up against, never did I think I would collect this award. When my name was announced I was stunned.
It was nice to be recognised, and that was that. I totally forgot about anything else.
It was February before I received an email out of the blue, stating that the Regional Awards had been decided and I was in fact the winner of this also, I was stunned. A day later, I received a call from the LTA saying I was to be invited to London in July for the National Awards as I had also been shortlisted for these. I was even more stunned, I remember speaking to the chair of WMTC and trying to tell him, but couldn't get my words out!
I went to the Regional Awards in Ilkley and collected my award in June for this, a really nice day in the sun! Then I travelled down to London at the start of the Championships, went to the National Tennis Centre for the awards, listened to the 3 who had been shortlisted for the award, never imagining I would win in comparison to the other 2, and won it!
I couldn't speak (which is unusual for me!), so much so the interview afterwards was almost nonsense in places!
I came back up North with the heaviest trophy I have every held and a sense of shock, overwhelm but pride.
Why do you feel it is important for clubs to nominate people from their club?
There are so many people out in the tennis community that do so much for their venues, schools, community groups, whether this is paid or voluntary, these people need to be acknowledged. Much work is done without knowledge from others so it is nice to recognise the hard work and time people put in to making our sport the best in this country. I know from our venue alone, we could nominate someone each year to acknowledge the work and dedication they put in to making the club a brilliant place to be and a nice environment to be a part of.
Let the country see the wonderful things that go on at your venue, an opportunity to showcase these places!
What do you enjoy about being a tennis coach?
Pretty much everything apart from the Great British weather!
Having stepped out of a career of nearly 20 years teaching, it has given my a different outlook in life. Through coaching I have been able to expose so many different people to tennis, whether that is mainstream tennis on a regular court, indoor tennis in schools, seated tennis in care homes or Inclusive tennis through venues including prison, I have enjoyed the lot!
Seeing everyone benefit in some way from taking part, enjoying what they are doing, signing up for more, improving their skill level or simply their confidence and self belief, the impact we can have is massive.
Being able to deliver things like Tennis leaders to young people, or the Rebound programme to those who have taken the wrong path in life, all utilise tennis as a tool for shaping their future.
Would you encourage others to get involved? And if so how would they do that?
I would encourage every venue, its committee or even just individuals, to get involved with the nomination process of the Cheshire Awards as a starting point. Showcase the wonderful things that happen right under your nose, that perhaps you take for granted as they simply "just happen", but this is it, they don't simply just happen, it takes a special someone to do the things they do and the work that goes into making your venue great.
To nominate, browse the LTA Awards on Cheshire Tennis website and get those nominations in before 16th November!
Anything else you’d like to mention?
Nothing really, other than to thank everyone who took time to contribute towards my nomination, putting it together, providing info for it or writing bits for it. Without you doing this, I would never have received this award. However, I firmly believe that behind every good person, there is a team of good people pulling the strings. I would never have won this award without those people supporting me and believing in me, giving me the opportunities that I have had. So thank you.
If you would like to make a nomination for this year's awards then please visit the link below. As mentioned you have until 16th November!
Nominations - https://www.lta.org.uk/what-we-do/lta-tennis-awards/

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