MALVERN tennis stalwart Jane Poynder has been awarded the Aegon Lifetime Achievement in Coaching Award at the 2014 British Tennis Awards.

Poynder is the first person to be awarded this accolade, introduced to acknowledge significant achievements and commitment to the sport, and was honoured at the ATP Tour finals at London's O2.

The award was given to Poynder in recognition of her continued contribution to British tennis as a leading coach, successful business person and an inspiration to many young coaches embarking on their careers.

Poynder has tutored for the LTA on all qualification levels since 1975 and has been instrumental in the development of many coaches working in British tennis.

She has run a highly successful coaching business for more than 30 years and most recently has developed a performance programme at Manor Park in Malvern.

The importance of mentoring and training coaches has always been a passion of Poynder, who is heavily involved with coaching apprentices.

Alongside a busy coaching schedule, she was also chairman of the British Tennis Coaches Association for 10 years, and prior to that was involved with BTCA in-service training, the first group to offer further training through workshops and conferences to qualified coaches.

Poynder was also the BTCA’s representative on the LTA Council between 1982 and 2007.

On winning the award, she said: “It’s excellent that coaches are recognised as well as players. Tennis is a wonderful game for all ages, abilities and standards.

“It really is a game for life and that’s what we need to be promoting in British tennis.

“Having coached for nearly 50 years now, I’ve worked with lots of young players who have gone on to play county tennis and with lots of coaches who have gone on to produce great tennis players. It’s fantastic to be recognised in this way.”

Lawn Tennis Association president Cathie Sabin added: “Huge congratulations to Jane and all the winners of the prestigious awards.

“It’s been a tremendous year for tennis in Britain and people like Jane, with their passion, hard work and dedication, help continue to propel the sport forward.

“It’s been a tremendous honour to be part of the ceremony, rightly recognising those individuals who have excelled in 2014.”

Tara McGregor-Woodhams, head of brand, digital and sponsorship at Aegon UK, said: “Jane is a well deserving winner of the Aegon Lifetime Achievement in Coaching Award.

“Both as a player and a coach, Jane has been involved with British tennis at the highest level and it’s great that we are able to recognise her with this award.”