Participation

Bradfield College fields 42 teams throughout the academic year in block fixtures, Classic Clashes and LTA Schools Competitions. Pupils train on a weekly basis coached by members of our dedicated coaching team and have the chance to represent the College in singles and doubles.

The Co-Curricular Tennis Programme provides opportunities for pupils of all abilities to play tennis throughout the year in coached and supervised club activities.

Pupils also have the opportunity to engage in individual coaching each week to refine their skills, however, priority is given to players competing in LTA sanctioned competitions outside of the College. Lessons are a chargeable extra.

Coaching

The dedicated six-strong coaching team deliver a wide range of coaching programmes for players of all ages and abilities across the College. As a collective, the team have experience at county, regional, national and international level.

The Team have a track record in producing county, regional and national standard players and are heavily involved with the Berkshire LTA County Training Programme.

There are programmes in place for development level and team players. For pupils who aspire to achieve scholarships in the USA there is a dedicated Performance Programme (ten hours per week). Every member of the Bradfield coaching team is LTA Accredited+, DBS checked, insured and holds the Safeguarding and Protection in Tennis certification.

Coaching team

Damian Fuller

Damian has been coaching for 29 years and holds the LTA Level 5 Master Performance Coach qualification. He is a professional and experienced tennis coach with a history of producing and developing Tennis Europe and ITF level junior tennis players. Damian has worked on ITF Futures and Challenger circuits as well as developing many National and International level junior players some of whom have competed at Les Petits As, Tarbes and the Orange Bowl in the United States. Damian is also currently Berkshire Girls County Cup Captain for the under 18 and under 14 Teams.

Peter Mogan

Peter has been coaching at Bradfield since 2011 and has a wealth of experience working with players of all ages and abilities, Peter has worked at Team Bath High Performance Centre and in Reading, Pennsylvania (USA).

He has worked with junior players at ITF and Tennis Europe level often as a mental skills mentor as he holds a MSC in Sports Psychology (Brunel University).

Peter is the Head of Adult Coaching at Bradfield Tennis Club and also an integral member of the Academy Coaching Team.

Ricky Reardon

Ricky has been coaching at Bradfield since 2019 and his passion for the sport has never diminished. From a competitive standpoint he managed to achieve National Level as a junior to now competing in senior tennis over 45’s for Avon County. Within this competitive period he has played for various clubs in Summer and Winter league tennis including National Club League Tennis and National Premier Tennis. He has always had great passion for improving players.

Working at Bradfield currently is a joy for Ricky’s coaching as he works with all demographics, from performance coaching to recreational coaching. His main investment in junior tennis is converting under 8’s into competitive players, this also holds true for the adult coaching which he is proud to say he has converted some groups into league tennis. Currently he is a Level 4 Senior Club Coach including recently acquiring his Grade 5 officiating qualification.

Chris Spiller

Chris has been coaching at Bradfield since September 2022. His enthusiasm for tennis started when he was five years old and hasn’t ever stopped. He continually strives to develop new skills and enhanced his existing ones. Chris enjoys seeing players grow and make their own way on the tennis journey, whether that be at a high level or within a club. Chris currently works across all levels within the coaching programme. He played and worked his way through the age groups competing at every level and represented Sussex. Chris is currently a LTA Level 4 Senior Club Coach (SCC), licensed LTA official and UKRSA certified racket technician.

Mark Bradley

Mark has been coaching at Bradfield since 2022 after various coaching jobs worldwide in Australia, the USA, Dublin and Greece. Mark is an LTA Level 3 coach as well as a Mindfulness Practitioner. His passion is to get as many young people involved in tennis and help them to fall in love with the sport. He believes in hard work, discipline and self-driven motivation. Mark’s speciality is to encourage his players to think about tennis differently. He loves those ‘lightbulb moments’ when players smile after making a positive change that has been a challenge for them to achieve.

James Marsh

James has been coaching at Bradfield since 2023. He has more than 13 years of on court coaching experience, from those picking up a racquet for the first time to those regularly training on a LPDC programme competing at a county, regional and national level.

James especially enjoys introducing players to competition for the first time and seeing their ability to problem solve and take responsibility for their own development improve.

James currently holds the LTA Level 4 Tennis Coach, UKRSA Racquet Stringer, LTA Competition Organiser and Court Supervisor qualifications. James was awarded the Berkshire LTA Development Coach of the Year award in 2023.

Performance

Bradfield offers Performance Players who are looking towards scholarships in the USA a weekly programme of up to ten hours per week plus a dedicated Strength and Conditioning programme delivered by UKSCA (United Kingdom Strength & Conditioning Association) instructors. Invitation to the Commercial Performance Programme is based upon the players LTA rating/ranking and that pupils maintain their academic levels.

To be considered for a Year 9 Tennis Scholarship, players will be required to meet the following criteria:

  • Competing regularly at Grade 3 LTA sanctioned competitions;
  • GB ranking of 40 or higher at 12 & under;
  • GB ranking of 40 or higher at 14 & under;
  • Overseas or GB players who compete at ITF or Tennis Europe levels are required to forward their ranking and recent tournament schedule for review.

The Director of Tennis is happy to review any video footage provided by players in support of scholarship applications.

Sixth Form Tennis Scholarships are also available to players meeting the necessary criteria, for further details please contact Damian Fuller, Director of Tennis on 0118 964 4566 or by email.

For information concerning the Performance Programme and to arrange an assessment, please contact Damian Fuller by phone or email.

 

Performance Training Programme

DayTimeDurationLocation
Monday15:00 – 16:001 hourIndoor Tennis Centre
Tuesday14:00 – 17:003 hoursIndoor Tennis Centre
Thursday14:00 – 17:003 hoursIndoor Tennis Centre
Friday07:00 – 08:00 1 hourIndoor Tennis Centre
Friday16:00 – 17:001 hourIndoor Tennis Centre
Individual lessons and S & C to be added to the schedule at a time that suits the pupil

 

Classic clashes

Bradfield College also competes annually against the following teams:

  • International Club of Great Britain
  • Public Schools Old Boys Lawn Tennis Association
  • United Kingdom Armed Forces
  • St George’s Weybridge

Individual Honours – College Singles Championships

Gorringe Cup (U14 Boys)Stotesbury Cup (U16 Boys)Billington Cup (U18 Boys)Balzert Cup (U14 Girls)Stoye Cup (U16 Girls)Vildaskaya Cup (U18 Girls)
2021COVID, not playedTom DunlopThomas CreightonCOVID, not playedPippa LongfieldEllie Stopps
2020COVID, not playedCOVID, not playedCOVID, not playedCOVID, not playedCOVID, not playedCOVID, not played
2019Tom DunlopWilliam MercerAngus CreightonAmelia HorseyEmilia WendelstadtAnnabel Hindley
2018William Mercer Frederick Baker Thomas Wynne Lexie DaviesAnnabel Hindley Imogen Lowe
2017Frederick BakerThomas Wynne Joel Davis Tatiana WigginAnnabel Hindley Elizabeth Lenon
2016Angus CreightonEdward Bray Penn Frank Annabel HindleyIva Dralcheva Beth Wall
2015William Bray Joel Davis Matthew Slater Maya SalmonIva Dralcheva Anastasia Ternovskaya
2014Joel Davis




Frederick Grant Daniel Slater Iva DralchevaNot playedChristiona Martin

Pre-season tennis tours

The Coaching Team run two annual pre-season tennis tours to Vale do Lobo, Algarve, Portugal in April.

The Year 9 Tour is open to any pupils wishing to improve their tennis and to those who wish to represent the College in the Summer Term and LTA sanctioned competitions.

The Year 10–13 Tour is open to players who represent the 1st & 2nd VI, 16A/B, 15A and 14A teams.

These highly successful tours are incredibly popular amongst the pupils and provide an excellent opportunity to hone their skills in the build up to the summer. Whilst on tour, the pupils can expect to play fixtures against other schools and universities.