TAUNTON Tennis Club is continuing an annual scheme to encourage youngsters to pick up their racquets.

The new Tennis Trail for 2008 plans to visit ten primary schools and over 1,500 pupils.

Youngsters in Taunton will get the opportunity to sample tennis as part of a programme, which could lead to some eventually becoming international players.

Coaches take to the road setting up tennis in school halls, with the assistance of Batman and Superman - stars of a special tennis show performed by the coaches in disguise.

All children are carefully assessed and offered further training at Taunton Tennis Club, which operates at Blackbrook Pavilion on six purpose built indoor tennis courts.

The scheme is part of a bigger drive towards the club becoming a high performance centre, which would make it one of a small number of key national tennis clubs funded to train players to national and international standard.

Taunton Tennis Club is looking to link with smaller tennis clubs in Somerset to offer both their players and coaches support and assistance in training players. "With six fantastic indoor courts at our disposal we want to widen the net and allow more children from a wider catchment area to take advantage of the facilities in Taunton, especially as we are the only indoor club in Somerset", said tennis manager Michele Hewitt.

Anyone interested in the Tennis Trail or the club scheme should contact 01823-85983 and ask to speak to Michele or Simon.