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Job in brief?

Joanne Thomas-Kemp: I do the managing side of the Welsh National Tennis Centre: booking courts, setting up the commercial side to make sure we've got enough players on certain courses for Esporta Cardiff. I also work with Sports Cardiff Performance Programme along with Howard Jones. We work with some of the best kids in Wales.

I tend to do 9-5 manager side and 5-8pm on court working with the better players, and weekends I tend to travel with those payers. Howard sometimes goes with the boys then I obviously go with the girls. I was away for 6 weekends just before Christmas because one of the players I work with was doing really well. If she gets into main draws or good events then I have to go with her. So it's mainly travelling around and watching players.

Qualifications?

JTK: I did Geography and English A-levels and did a BTECH in Leisure & Recreational Management at Cheam High School. I was doing a scholarship there in conjunction with Sutton Junior Tennis Centre. I moved there from Swansea and was based with a family for 2 years. I was doing about 6 hours of tennis a day which combined with my studies as well. You were bussed between school and tennis, so it worked out quite well.

I did my DCA [Development Coach Award] in Sutton Junior Tennis Centre where I was a player. It was a week long course at that time so it worked in quite well with our schedule of when we were playing tournaments. I then left and went to UWIC and did the HND in Recreation and Leisure Management and then I topped it off with a BS Honours degree in Sport and PE.

About 2 years ago I did my performance coaching qualification. It either takes 3 years or a year; I did it over a year's time. It's almost like doing a degree of 2 years crammed into one because you have to do assignments and then a final project of 10,000 words. I wanted to do that qualification to be able to coach players of a higher standard.

Work experience?

JTK: When I was 15, still doing my GCSE's, I did some work experience at Swansea Tennis Centre with Marie Hunter who's still the Tennis Development Officer down there. I did a couple of weeks work experience with her just to see how a tennis centre runs and works. I think it opens your eyes so you realise how hard work it is. It certainly helped with my decisions.

Skills?

JTK: Good communication skills are important, so people get an understanding of what you actually do and what needs to be done.

Good organisational skills - because your day needs to be organised, your time - what you're doing in the day with your lessons, and if you're doing some management stuff then lessons in the evening your time needs to be split and worked out well.

You've got to be motivated as well. It's quite easy after a long day to say 'I can't be bothered to go on court for another hour'. If you're not motivated your enjoyment goes out of it, the kid won't get any enjoyment either.

Your path?

JTK: I needed to update my qualifications, so I came down here [to the Welsh National Tennis Centre] and started to do some part-time hours while I was in UWIC. I started at about 4 hours a week, did my 2nd qualification, then when I left university I was on about 26 hours a week. That went up to 40/50 hours and that was purely hours coaching on court.

About 2 years ago I got promoted to the Racquets Manager position, and Howard and Simon Aims, the Welsh National Coach, wanted me to do my performance qualification. They helped me with that, and the LTA supported me as well.

The DCA is basically the first on the line, and then there's a CCA [Club Coach Award] and then you can go on and do your performance award after that - that was the path I went through.

Advice?

JTK: Get work experience in places such as this. We have quite a few people coming in through careers Wales. I think it's just approaching people - if that's the industry you want to get into - the fitness, sport or tennis industry. It doesn't matter if you don't think you're a great player.

There are so many things in tennis that you can do. You could be a tennis coach, an assistant, or you could even be a manager of a tennis centre, if you've got an interest in it, and not go on court. Approach ourselves, Esporta, or there's a tennis centre in Swansea as well.