British Tennis Awards: Regional winners announced

All regional, along with Tennis Wales and Tennis Scotland's winners will now be in for a shot to be crowned a national winner in the final stage of the Awards.

The national finalists will be announced in May and June, with the eventual winners being announced at the official Awards Ceremony at The Championships, Wimbledon, July 3.

Discover a snapshot of our 50 incredible regional award-winners with three of their inspirational stories…

Zsuzsanna Puskas, Volunteer of the Year – North

Zsuzsanna’s support for Thornhill Tennis Club has no limits. From visiting local schools to promote the club, to applying for grant opportunities to improve facilities - Zsuzsanna has it covered!

Her focus on driving membership engagement is second to none; she delivered a dance taster session which kickstarted a new weekly dance club, initiated a ladies tennis morning once a week and launched a rounders club for parents whilst their kids attend coaching sessions.

She coordinates the cleaning of the clubhouse, supports on events such as Great British Tennis Weekend, and organises a number of fundraisers to help families get their kids into tennis at no cost.

And it doesn’t stop there! She secured an LTA coach to run voluntary sessions at a local primary school, coordinated court bookings in the absence of an automatic system and arranged a Monster Smash tournament which involved getting 30 ‘monsters and ghouls’ on court one evening.

Steven Pilcher, Official of the Year – East

Steven’s nomination comes from our reigning Volunteer of the Year, Wendy Glasper, for his dedication to the game.

As a former club champion and member of his university’s first team, Steven has always appreciated the role umpires and referees play in the sport. As a result, in 1989, he started refereeing in Framlingham before he became a tournament umpire for both local and national tournaments.

He has worked closely with the Tennis Foundation to support the growth of blind and visually impaired competitions, as well as wheelchair tennis tournaments.

Visually impaired tennis is a fast growing sport, but Steven always ensures he’s on top of the ever-changing rules regarding sight classification, court sizes and the number of ball bounces a player can have. With his friendly and approachable manner, he is always on hand to offer support to chair umpires, players and volunteers.