Matt Ford – Head Coach at Danbury L.T.C.
Matt has been coaching since the age of 14 when he gave both short tennis lessons and private tuition to members of the Steve Luck Squad in Maldon. He gained the Development Coaches Award in 1988, and continued to work in coaching whilst attending the University of Brighton where he captained the Men’s first team. During his time at Brighton, where he studied for a Sports Science Degree, the University team qualified for the regional finals of the Silk Cut Challenge and went on to win the event in 1993. Matt gained the LTA’s Intermediate Coaches Award in 1993, and has been working at Danbury L.T.C and in local schools and private houses since 1994. In 1998 and 2004, our Under 14 side won the Chelmsford and District Junior League, and our senior teams now contain a good number of junior players who have progressed through the coaching programme. Two of these talented junior players –Suzanne Broadbridge and William Faux - have qualified as Assistant Coaches and now complement the coaching programme at the club.
In 2001, our men’s first team was promoted to Division One of the Essex League, becoming the first five court club in Essex to achieve this feat. The ladies first team also gained promotion to Division One in 2009, again for the first time in the club’s history.
The coaching programme at Danbury caters for all standards of player aged from 5 to 75, either through group or individual sessions, and is continued throughout the year.
In May 2011, the club expanded its coaching programme to include one secondary and four primary schools. With this expansion came the need for further coaches and we now run a specialist schools coaching team.
There has also been some movement within the coaching team in 2011 – William Faux has now begun his degree course at Hull University, whilst Suzanne Broadbridge has taken up a position at New Hall school. Michael Packham – our Under 18 junior champion and regular Men’s first team player - has taken a far bigger role in the programme over the last six months as he continues his progression along the LTA coaching pathway.
Fortunately, in August 2011, we were able to secure the services of two more coaches on a part time basis to fulfil the requirements of the club. The first of these was Loui Corry, who has a vast amount of experience running the tennis programmes at several David Lloyd centres and overseas venues over the last twenty years. Our second addition was Arron Davis who has been a full time coach at David Lloyd Chigwell for the last nineteen years, and has a wealth of experience with both junior beginners and senior club team players.