£500 donated towards young Tennis star Paul Jubb

As part of our 125^th anniversary year we have been working with the Hull and East Yorkshire Smile Foundation to help source local charities and organisations to donate money towards. We have donated £500 to the young, up and coming Tennis star, Paul Jubb.

Paul has been playing tennis since he was 5 years old. He was first noticed during a primary school taster session by the coach at his local outdoor club and invited to join. He immediately showed talent, using his great athletic ability to cover the court. Paul was spotted at a mini tennis team competition by Nuffield, then Cannons, Head Coach, John Loughton (John has since gone on to become the TPC for the North) and was invited to join in their performance mini tennis squads. Paul is now 15 years old and has been training 4/5 times a week at Nuffield for 8 years. He has competed for his county at all age groups and is currently the U16 British Junior National Champion, ranked number 3 in Great Britain.

Playing tennis at such a high level has taken a lot of hard work and commitment from Paul; this has been particularly difficult given his home circumstances. Sadly Paul lost both parents when he was very young, he has been raised by his grandmother, Val from the age of 4. Paul and Val live in a council house in East Hull, Val’s only income being her state pension. Paul has 3 aunts and uncles who are very supportive but all work fulltime and have young families which mean that they cannot always assist with his tennis. Paul’s training at Nuffield is heavily subsidised and he has been receiving funding from Yorkshire LTA to go towards the costs of competing. Without this help it would not have been possible for Paul to reach the high playing standard he has achieved.

Paul travels to most tournaments with his Coach, Jonny Carmichael. When Jonny is not available due to other coaching commitments Paul must either travel on the train or with parents of another player (if a Nuffield player is playing in the same event). As Paul has improved the costs of competing in the relevant competition have risen (further distances, hotel expenses, etc.) some of which have been covered by the YLTA funding but if he wants to achieve a higher ITF ranking in order to attend an American College this means travelling further afield.

His most recent success was winning an ITF Junior 4 tournament in Qatar, he is ranked 476 internationally.

We wish Paul good luck in his next events and look forward to what the future holds for the young star!