IT has been a season to remember for Ribble Valley Tennis Centre and its performance director and head coach Mark Schofield.

On court the club have competed against the cream of the county while off it, Schofield has been appointed president elect at the Lancashire Lawn Tennis Association.

And the 43-year-old also recently got the chance to meet up with his old rival, Tim Henman, who he famously beat to win a national junior title 25 years ago.

Schofield entered four teams into this year’s Aegon event which pitted Lancashire’s top performance centres and clubs against each other.

And the talented youngsters more than held their own against clubs and centres with much larger catchment areas.

And that was underlined by the success of the Under-16s Boys team who won their division with a 100 per cent record against teams from Liverpool, Bolton and Southport.

The Under-12s girls team narrowly missed out on winning their division as they finished runners-up to Palmerston of Liverpool, winning all bar the last match.

The Under-12s boys put in some great performances to finish fourth in their division.

The Under-8s, playing competitive tennis for the first time, played in a very tough division and finished in an impressive third place.

Schofield was delighted to see his young aces do so well against much bigger clubs.

“I couldn’t be happier with the players,” said Schofield. “To compete against clubs with a much bigger catchment area than ours, where basically we have players from Clitheroe and the surrounding area, was a fantastic achievement.

“The Under-16s boys team were crowned champions but all four teams did superbly well and the girls Under-12s were very unlucky to miss out while the boys team in the same group also did us proud.

“The most important thing at this level is that youngsters enjoy playing and that is what we try to instil and that was evident with the Under-8s team.

“It was their very first tournament for all the players and all of them played with a smile on their face which was great to see.”

Ribble Valley Tennis Centre have a superb record of producing top county, regional and national champions but Schofield say it is not a ‘win at all cost’ mentally.

“We want to see more and more youngsters playing tennis,” he said. “We have a very good record of producing very good players but it is not all about getting to the very top, it is about playing the game and enjoying it.”

Schofield himself was a very promising young player culminating with winning the National Under-18s Indoor title where he beat Henman in the final.

The pair got to renew acquaintances recently when Henman made a visit to the Ribble Valley – and Schofield says that match came up in conversion.

“I haven’t seen him in years but we were very close when we used to compete against each other,” added Schofield. “Naturally, when I saw Tim it did come up in conversation that I beat him in a national final.

“Saying that, he did get his revenge as he went on to beat my in the outdoor national finals before I decided to quit playing at that level and Tim went his way and I went my way.”

Meanwhile, Schofield admitted he was ‘immensely proud’ to be appointed president elect at the Lancashire Lawn Tennis Association.

Schofield will take up the role in 2019 and he is looking forward to putting something back in to the game.

“I have been in the Lancashire system for more than 35 year as a junior and senior and I know exactly what it means to play for your county.

“This is a great honour for me and I am immensely proud.

“I know I will be a figurehead for the Association and there will be a lot of meetings and attending presentations and prize-givings, but I would also like to use my own experiences from representing Lancashire for many years and try to improve certain areas if possible.”

Schofield captained Lancashire for many years but the highlight was winning the Division One National title at Eastbourne in 2008 – a team that included the Skupsy brothers, Ken and Neil, who reached the quarter finals of the doubles at Wimbledon this year.

“We won the indoor title in 2005 but that victory in Eastbourne was definitely the highlight,” added Schofield, who retired from competitive tennis in 2010. “It was a very talented team and you only have to look at what Ken and Neil did this year to see how good that team was.”

n Ribble Valley Tennis Centre run a comprehensive coaching programme for all age ranges and ability levels.

They also have a full summer coaching programme for beginners looking to take up the sport to advanced players looking to hone their skills.

For more information contact Mark on: 07917 457861 or e-mail: mark@tennis-centre.co.uk