It started with one very happy tennis player
FunTennis was founded in Monmouthshire in 2022 by Rach Ryder — and it exists because of what tennis gave her: joy, happiness, fitness, friends, laughter and a passion she couldn't keep to herself.
Rach noticed something odd. Everyone she spoke to seemed to have a tennis story — the racket in the loft, the school team they nearly made, the "I'd love to play but I'm not good enough". What almost nobody had was a way back onto court that didn't involve club ladders, league fixtures or feeling judged from the first serve.
So she started a session where none of that mattered. No pressure, no standards committee, no whites — just a coach, a basket of balls and a group of adults rediscovering how much fun it is to hit a tennis ball. Word spread. One session became a weekly schedule across Monmouth, St Pierre and St Briavels; the schedule grew testimonials, tennis holidays, and a community of players who arrived as strangers and now book restaurants together.
What we believe
- Fun first. If you're not smiling, we're doing it wrong.
- Everyone's welcome. Beginners, returners, secret county-level ringers — all of you.
- Community beats competition. Though a bit of friendly LiveBall rivalry never hurt anyone.
What's next
We think every town deserves a FunTennis. That's why we've built the FunTennis app — a map of more than 25,000 public courts across the UK, with coach-run LiveBall sessions you can book in seconds. The plan is simple: take what happened in Monmouthshire and help it happen everywhere. 🎾
Want to be part of it — as a player, a coach, or a curious lurker? Say hello.