FOUNDED 1988 · PETERSFIELD LANE, SURREY
An independent academy on thirty acres
Rowan Hall has coached from the same site, and broadly the same principles, since 1988. Eleven children on a Saturday morning has become seventeen staff, twelve courts and four programmes.
- 38
- years coaching in Surrey
- 14
- county titles since 2020
- 11
- university scholarships
- 3
- players on the professional tour
THE ACADEMY
Where the site is
Rowan Hall sits at the end of Petersfield Lane, forty minutes from junction 10 of the M25 and eleven from Haslemere station. Thirty acres of Surrey parkland hold twelve courts, a 1920s hall, a strength and conditioning suite, a physio clinic and a study centre.
It is independent and privately owned, with no local authority or LTA funding attached to it, which is why the fees are what they are and why nothing here is decided by committee.
HISTORY
Thirty-eight years, one site
Rowan Hall has never moved and has had two directors of tennis. Most of what changed was built rather than decided.
Peter and Judith Ashwell buy thirty acres at Petersfield Lane with four grass courts and a derelict 1920s hall. Coaching starts with eleven children on a Saturday morning.
Six European red clay courts laid where the paddock was. Rowan Hall becomes one of the few Surrey clubs coaching year-round on clay.
Four acrylic courts go under a nine-metre clear-span roof. From this point no session has been cancelled for weather.
Amelie Fortin joins and the mini pathway is rebuilt around stage checkpoints rather than age groups.
A former WTA top-120 player arrives as Director of Tennis and rewrites the academy syllabus from red ball to full-time.
Twelve places open with on-site schooling to A-level. The study centre is built above court one.
The whole site is rebuilt around a step-free route, with accessible changing, a lift to the loggia and ITF wheelchair specification on eight courts.
Seventeen staff, twelve courts, four programmes and three former players on the professional tour.
PHILOSOPHY
Four things we will not trade away
The syllabus has been revised eleven times since 1988. These have not moved.
Technique before results
A stroke built to survive pressure takes longer to learn. We accept slower progress at eight for faster progress at fourteen.
One syllabus, twelve courts
Every coach teaches the same swing shapes, so a change of group never means starting over.
Assessed, not auditioned
No player is placed from a video or a ranking. A senior coach watches a full session first.
Parents in the loop
A written review each term, an open coaching day every half-term, and one named coach per player.
LEADERSHIP
Who runs Rowan Hall
Four people between the courts and the office. The average tenure among them is twelve years.
Director of TennisMarta SilveiraFormer WTA top-120; coached two players into the world junior top 20 over eleven years on the professional circuit.Full profile
Head of PerformanceDouglas RennieLTA Master Performance coach. Leads the squads and the county tournament programme.Full profile
Head of Junior TennisAmelie FortinSeventeen years teaching the mini pathway; wrote the academy’s red-ball syllabus.Full profile
Academy Manager & Parent LiaisonGill AnsteyBooks parent meetings, holds the safeguarding lead role for the academy, and is the person who answers when you call the office.PLAYER PATHWAY
Five stages, one syllabus
A player moves stage when the technical checkpoints hold under a live ball, not at a birthday. The same route runs from a first racket at four to a full-time programme at eighteen.
FACILITIES
What is on the site
Ten of the twelve courts play year-round, and everything else sits within two minutes’ walk of a baseline.
12 courts
Six clay, four indoor acrylic, two grass
30 acres
Surrey parkland at Petersfield Lane
S&C suite
240m², built for tennis rather than fitness
Physio clinic
Five days a week, termly screening
Study centre
24 supervised desks above court one
Clubhouse
1920s hall, café, loggia over court one
COME AND SEE IT
Thirty acres are hard to describe
Tours run on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings during term. Or book a trial and see the coaching itself, which is the part that matters.