This is a short blog on how Mike Herd got into tennis coaching. Mike has always loved tennis from an early age. He spent many hours training and competing as a junior at Mold Tennis Club.
Mike was a recent finalist for Tennis Wales Coach Of The Year. You can read more about this by clicking here.
Mike is head coach of Pen-y-ffordd Tennis Club and Hawarden Community Tennis Club in Flintshire. He is also the head coach of Helsby Tennis Club in Cheshire.
He is also a UKRSA qualified stringer and technician and offers Racket Restringing for all racket sports in Mold and the surrounding area.
Mike’s tennis journey began at Mold tennis club
Mike first started playing tennis at his local primary school (Ysgol Y Waun) and was hooked straightaway. He soon started pestering his parents to take him down to Mold Tennis Club to start tennis lessons.
Mike began at Mold leisure centre playing short tennis and his first tennis coach was Margaret Lewis. He loved attending every Saturday and playing local tournaments at every opportunity.
Mike then progressed on to mini tennis with Phil Webb and then on to squads with Eddie Hill and Vicki Broadbent.
Before long, Mike was playing between 3-5 times a week and was playing lots of competitions and county events. His High School team (Mold Alun) won the Welsh schools tennis championships.
Mike thoroughly enjoyed the coaching and there were always lots of players there to challenge Mike. He remembers that there was always a great environment and adult members were very welcoming and would let juniors take part in their club nights!
Mike had many enjoyable years playing for the men’s and mixed teams in the leagues where Mold won several titles.
As Mike was enjoying tennis so much, he decided to do his coaching qualifications. Mike started coaching a few of his friends and fell in love with coaching instantly. He knew he wanted to do this as a career.
What Mike is up to now
Fast forward to the present, this has led to a full time coaching career for Mike who is now a level 4 Tennis Coach working at Pen-y-ffordd and Hawarden in Flintshire, and Helsby Tennis Club in Cheshire.
Mike is never away from a tennis court and this is down to Mike’s fantastic experience at Mold Tennis Club. Mike is still in touch with and plays against friends whom he met over 16 years ago at Mold!
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You can also contact Mike on 07527 908808 / [email protected]
