Cambridgeshire tennis star Georgie Stoop today joined pupils at Histon and Impington junior school to check out the changes in tennis which are taking the nation's youngsters by storm.

The Tennis Foundation (TF), supported by the Lawn Tennis Association, (LTA) has been implementing a new AEGON Schools Tennis strategy to increase children's access to tennis and the British number six was on hand to see the new style tennis delivery in action and experience firsthand just what an impact the initiative is having in Cambridge.

She said: "To encourage more kids to take up the sport and stay involved, we want to make tennis more accessible at school and we want them to have a quality experience of this great sport, and the session I saw today was exactly that."

AEGON Schools Tennis provides a range of resources for schools, including an innovative coach-led DVD. The new tools are designed to give teachers everything they need to offer tennis, and to challenge old-fashioned views of the sport. They demonstrate how tennis can be taught in small areas to large groups, whether in the playground or the school hall.

Tennis is the only sport to have developed such an interactive child-facing DVD resource, meaning the pressure of demonstrating tennis skills is taken off the teacher.

The programme also provides the equipment to make it happen. Around 60,000 tennis rackets and 120,000 tennis balls have been sent, free-of-charge, to a number of primary schools in the last year and Stoop, who this year reached a career high world ranking of 178, believes quality experience of tennis at school is key for the long-term growth and success of the sport.

She added: "The resources provided by the Tennis Foundation, including the innovative schools DVD, are great ways to help teachers and coaches develop their knowledge, and boost their confidence in offering quality group tennis lessons. The AEGON Schools Tennis equipment bags also give schools the physical tools they need - whether rackets, balls or nets."

It is estimated that 79% of schools already offer tennis but Tennis Foundation research shows many teachers don't have the confidence to teach tennis to large groups of children*.

Schools lack equipment or are worried about a lack of space. The tools being rolled out across British Tennis are designed to tackle these barriers. The focus on primary schools will continue in 2009-10, with a range of tools for secondary and special schools also in the pipeline.

The LTA and Tennis Foundation are also working to build the links between schools and clubs so more young people continue to play the sport and achieve their potential.

Histon and Impington junior school Head teacher Lesley Birch added:

"The AEGON Schools tennis programme is fantastic and has allowed us to significantly improve the delivery of tennis within our school. The children have always enjoyed their tennis lessons and to be provided with free equipment certainly allows more children to have greater opportunities to play.

"Even the teachers' lives are made easier as the DVD really takes the pressure off them whilst teaching children high quality skills from a real tennis expert. As an early specialisation sport, it's great to see children at this age thoroughly engaged in this sport. I'm pleased to say that we have also forged great school club links with our local tennis club Histon so I hope the pupils can take what they learn here and continue to be involved in the game as they grow up."

Steve Clode, AEGON director of marketing, added: "The work carried out by both the LTA and the Tennis Foundation through AEGON Schools Tennis, is already making great strides in developing tennis as a core part of the sporting curriculum in many primary schools.

"Our support of AEGON Schools Tennis demonstrates the breadth of our partnership with British Tennis. AEGON's investment into programmes such as this will allow the sport of tennis to develop more strongly at all levels of the game and encourage more people to take up the sport, as well as identifying and nurturing the talent within British Tennis."

AEGON is the Lead Partner of British Tennis and is supporting the sport at all levels from grass roots to elite level.