EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST
EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH TENNIS PLAYER
Ben Draper Ben Draper talks about his exciting tennis career to date, his early introduction to the sport through his parents and attending Reed’s School, in Cobham, with his younger brother Jack Draper. Further to this he discusses his experience at UC Berkeley, USA, and he also offers some top tennis tips for success! We’re thrilled to welcome you, Ben, to the Education Corner podcast and to be able to hear a little more about your tennis career and how well you are doing. Would you like to tell us a little about your early tennis career?
Like a lot of people who play tennis, I started playing tennis at an early age. Tennis runs in my family, my grandmother was a very good player and coach, and my mother was a very good player. My brother is also a very good player. I was always around tennis. My mum used to coach at a tennis and squash club and my brother and I would have time after school where she was coaching. My brother and I would sometimes have time to kill and we’d have a racket in our hand, it looked massive in comparison to us, but that is how we learnt to hit the ball for the first time. From then onwards we were always close to tennis, we always loved watching tennis. We continued to play and improve right until now. How old were you when you first held a tennis racket?
It was a long, long time ago. I think I was probably very little. I think I was two or three years old. I started to take a real interest in it at about five or six. I remember my brother was hitting a ball 3 4 | EDUCATION CHOICES MAGAZINE | S U M M E R 2 02 2
against a garage door when he’d just started walking almost, so he was very young. Richard, you had something to say?
Richard Garrett: Well, I just think that it is very
interesting that you hear Ben saying that he started playing at two, for example, in one of the participation schemes that I have set up in Yorkshire, there were nine, ten and eleven year olds who had never ever seen a tennis court before they were invited to play in the community tennis festival. It’s something where the earlier you have access to it, the more it gets in your bones, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, not everyone gets the access that they should. Richard Garrett: No, and I think that is one of
the most important things. I think that for the development of any sport or any interest, you have to try and get early access. Not only early access, but also the opportunity for those who start playing, and show potential to develop in the same way that Ben has done. That leads onto my next question in a way. You have mentioned that tennis has played a big part in your family life, your father served as the Chief Executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, and your mother was a former coach and athlete. How were they able to support you and your brother in the early years?
As I mentioned, my family has always been in tennis, but I think that the number one way in which they really helped was just by investing
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