Viva Lewes Issue #153 June 2019

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Tennis
a sport for life
When I ask Luke Milligan what’s brilliant about
tennis, he replies, “Currently, at the club here
I coach kids who are 4 years old and adults of
75 plus. It’s a sport you can play, and love, your
whole life.”
Luke Milligan is the force behind Milligan
Tennis, which offers all the junior tennis training
at the Southdown Club. He’s been doing so for
the last four or more years, but this isn’t his first
connection to the club.
Luke first played here when he was fifteen,
and moved from North London to lodge with
a family in Barcombe while he trained for the
national training squad in Brighton. Playing at
the Southdown was part of his routine, and he
always liked it. It’s felt right to return, he tells
me, “and Dave the Groundsman is still here!”
Luke played tennis seriously for about ten years
– he represented GB in the Davis Cup, and in
1996 made the third round of the Men’s Singles
at Wimbledon. Then he turned to coaching. “I
coached a lot of girls and women, especially, for
the LTA National Tennis Centre.”
Southdown is, today “very, very junior-friendly”,
Luke says. He loves being part of what he tells
me is a great community around the club. “It’s
like an oasis: a friendly, safe environment”. And
that’s certainly my impression, as we sit chatting
in the clubhouse – today, Caffé Lazzati. People
keep stopping to speak to Luke as they pass. One
– Ellie – is now training to be a coach herself,
and has returned to be part of Milligan Tennis,
after completing a scholarship to Eastbourne
College.
So what coaching is available for young people
interested in tennis, at the Southdown? “We
train all ages” Luke tells me, “starting with Tots
Tennis drop-in, for the 3s to 5s”. Mini Tennis on
smaller courts caters for 5-8s (Red) and Orange,
8s-9s. Greens plus are on full-sized courts, for
the 10s to 18s.
The facilities are great – and a picturesque
bubble – geodesic dome – covers two courts
for six months of the year (October-March), so
the classes can run, between 4 and 7.30pm on
school nights, and on Saturday mornings, all
year round. There are also Easter and Summer
camps which are “very popular”, Luke tells me;
“sometimes, fifty to sixty kids a day.”
Summing up Junior Tennis at the club today,
he says: “There’s this recreational, fun side.
Then there are some kids taking the sport very
seriously – representing the county, and country.
But underpinning it all is this family feel – which
works really well. Ellie runs the tots groups, and
she’s brilliant at that. They all love her!”
Luke says he’d like to start a Junior Club night
soon – maybe on Friday evenings. Something
to bridge the holiday camps, and the squads. I
suspect he will… Charlotte Gann
southdownsportsclub.co.uk
milligantennis.com