David Geldart, Head of PE at St mary's catholic Comprehen-sive School at Menston, is celebrating a £30,000 windfall.

The facility grant has come from the Lawn Tennis Associa-tion as a consequence of the school being awarded Sports College Status.

Geldart says: "It now means we can build three dedicated all-weather floodlit tennis courts. Previously the courts have also been used for netball and hockey.

"It also means we can strengthen our partnerships with the Lawn Tennis Association, Leeds Leisure Services (through their Tennis Development Officer Matt Breeze at South Leeds Stadium), Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club and the newly-opened Carnegie Regional Tennis Centre at Leeds Metro-politan University.

"We can also go into primary schools through the Community Sport Development Officer, and hopefully arrange tournaments for them. They can also use our centre for practice or competition."

St Mary's are one of only 16 LTA-backed schools in the country to be awarded Sports College Status.

They have received that honour for making a big impact in community sport, and St Mary's and their fellow Sports College Status schools are committed to providing the highest standards of provision in physical education.

Also there is the possibility of additional funding from the department of Education and Employment.

It is anticipated that the schools will each hire a full-time tennis coach.

Phil Veasey, the LTA's Education Development Manager, said: "This is the culmination of years of hard work between the schools and the LTA's local officers."

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