Having just finished a law degree and starting a career in youth work, it was surprising to find myself coaching sport, not least a sport that I had not played since leaving school. This has lead to me working at Westway Sports Centre developing Fives in the local area since David Mew has moved from handling the dual pressures of management and coaching to becoming Head Coach at Westway Sports Centre.

There has already been a great deal of interest from local schools in a one-wall outreach project sponsored by the Fives Federation and in association with the city Fives Association. This will allow Westway coaching staff to coach one-wall fives in schools, with a borough-wide festival tournament at Westway Sports Centre which will expose school children to Eton Fives, when they would not ordinarily get the chance. Club nights at Westway have already proven to be a success, with Monday nights full on a regular basis, and participation on a Thursday night steadily increasing.

Local schools have had the opportunity to use the courts at Westway, and all the groups that have participated have enjoyed the sport and come back for future sessions, to the extent that children from the schools around Westway entered into the National Championships this year. There is a great deal planned for the future at Westway. Westway will be holding the first ever English one-wall Fives tournament. There are also plans to extend Westway’s role in other tournaments throughout the Fives season, most notably the Turnball and ladies’ tournaments. There are also plans to use Westway as a base for London University Students to play Fives once they have left school; this will hopefully also entice new players into the game.

Hopefully we will see a lot of players both new and old playing Fives at Westway in the future.

S.P.

Westway Report 2005-2006 by Steve Piper
Created 26th March by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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