Throughout June, ARC will be celebrating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion with a range of exciting events that aim to ensure that everyone feels able to enjoy sports and fitness in a fun, safe, supportive, and welcoming environment.
Read moreBideford Archive Publishes History of Westward Ho! Tennis Club
The Bideford & District Community Archive has published a feature article detailing the history of Westward Ho! Tennis Club, the club from which Atlantic Racquet Centre was born. Tracing the club’s history back to its formation in 1946, the article highlights how much ARC has developed as an organisation, whilst also demonstrating how WHTC’s rich history informed many of the key values that ARC promotes today, such as our strong commitment to volunteering, our passion for supporting children to engage with sport, and the importance of community.
Read moreARC Welcomes More Than 100 Members for Member Appreciation Day 2024
On Bank Holiday Monday 6th May, ARC welcomed more than 100 members to celebrate Member Appreciation Day - our annual celebration to thank all of our members for their ongoing support of ARC.
Read moreMental Health Awareness in May at ARC
From 13th-19th May the NHS and multiple charitable & health organisations are encouraging people across the UK to 'move more for their mental health' as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Throughout May, we’ve organised a series of free indoor and outdoor activities hosted by members of the ARC Team, all aimed at promoting physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Read moreARC Tennis Summer Open 2024
The annual ARC Tennis Summer Open returns this May, taking place from Saturday 25th May to Sunday 2nd June! This is our biggest event of the year and is open to everyone, with events for all ages from under 8s to vets.
Read moreMember Appreciation Day 2024
Coming up on Monday 6th May 2024, it’s Member Appreciation Day at ARC! This is a completely free event for all racquet and gym members and their families to thank you for your ongoing support of ARC.
Read morePlay Your Way to Wimbledon at ARC
Ever dreamt of playing at Wimbledon? Now is your chance! This year the LTA are again expanding the usual Play Your Way to Wimbledon competition for Juniors into an exciting opportunity for Adults! Here at ARC we are running a Mens’ and Ladies Doubles event on Saturday 20th April, starting at 12pm. Winners will proceed to Area Finals, and then on to the National Finals on the famous grass courts at Wimbledon!
Read moreDavid Follett: Inspirational Speaker Comes to ARC
We’re thrilled to announce that David Follett, Para-Badminton Player for England, will be coming to ARC for a special one-off event on Saturday 23rd March at 7pm. ‘Tragedy to Triumph’ is David’s personal and inspirational story, overcoming a terrible road traffic accident that left him paralysed from the chest down to represent England in multiple world championships.
Read moreARC Hosts Driathlon UK Tour Event
On Sunday 18th February ARC Fitness hosted event 5 of the Driathlon UK Tour. The Driathlon is a tough 60min challenge, where participants work for 20mins on each of our three Concept 2 machines to complete as many calories burned as possible. There are Driathlon events happening all over the country, with the top participants qualifying for a grand final event at the Birmingham NEC.
Read moreNew Badminton Courts and Increased Availability!
ARC is delighted to announce the arrival of two brand new badminton courts at the centre, as well as increased availability for court bookings, and more opportunities to get involved with badminton socials and club play.
Read moreJoin ARC's 2024 Summer Season Tennis Teams
Calling all Tennis Racquet, Unlimited Racquet, Premium Racquet and Gym members! Are you interested in representing an ARC Tennis Team at this year’s upcoming summer season? Our 2024 Team Tennis Committee has been assembled and will be responsible for selecting and managing our teams across the various North Devon Tennis events and competitions that ARC enters, and the committee is accepting expressions of interest. Read on to learn more about how to get involved.
Read moreARC Team Members Win Devon Tennis County Awards!
At the annual Devon Tennis County Awards hosted on Wednesday 24th January, ARC team members Hannah Miller and Ella Wilson were recognised for their hard work, dedication, and outstanding contribution to tennis in Devon.
Read moreWe're recruiting! Join the Team at ARC.
We’re looking for passionate and committed people to join our team and support ARC in delivering the best service possible to our members and the wider community.
Read moreWe're Recruiting a Yoga Instructor to Join our ARC Fitness Team
Atlantic Racquet Centre (ARC) are seeking to appoint a Yoga instructor to join our ARC Fitness team and lead 1-3 Yoga Classes per week. The position will be offered on a self-employed contract. To apply please send a covering letter and your CV to lottiemiles@atlanticracquetcentre.co.uk
Read moreARC Trustee David Vinall presented with Active Devon Award
Earlier this month, ARC Trustee David Vinall was presented with the Active Devon Volunteer Award 2023 for his Outstanding Contribution to Inclusion. A group of friends, family, ARC staff and volunteers gathered at ARC for the award presentation by Hannah Shackleton on behalf of Active Devon.
Read moreARC Awards Evening
On Saturday 25th November, ARC hosted our third annual Awards Evening. More than 150 members and their families joined us for the event, celebrating a year of incredible achievements across racquet sports and fitness.
Read moreVolunteer Celebration Day!
We recently held a Volunteer Celebration day with a an evening BBQ! Over 20 of our amazing volunteers came along and played lots of garden games, ate good food and have great time! Tom V managed to keep everyone fed with his BBQ Skills!
Volunteers are so important to making ARC what is is and it’s really important that we thank them!
Fancy becoming a volunteer? Find out more here:
https://www.atlanticracquetcentre.co.uk/volunteer
We won FIRST PLACE at the Carnival!
On the 11th of September 2023 ARC entered into the Bideford Carnival! We were in the Trade Category and we won! We’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who came along! From the people who helped decorate the float to people who helped give out almost 300 signed tennis balls! We had two very special stars on the float with Tenby the Tennis Ball and our very own World Weightlifting Masters Silver Medalist Lottie Miles!
It was such a fun event and we can’t wait to see you at the next one!
Member Appreciation Day - 8th July!
Our Member Appreciation Day is coming up on Saturday 8th July. This is a special FREE day we put on every year for all our Gym and Racquet members and their families.
There are so many activities, workshops and clinics led by our fantastic coaching teams both in the gym and on court.
Come along to meet lots of your fellow members, and join in all sorts of free activities for all the family.
PLUS a FREE BBQ!
On the Racquet side, we will have:
Kids Tennis Games
Adult Tennis Clinic
Giants Team games for Badminton/Tennis
Free play for all racquet sports
Slinger Ball Machine
Babolat Racquet Demo
Serving Speed Gun
Racquet Round Up
And in the Gym…
Pilates class with Catherine
Kids and teen fitness classes with Lys
Functional Fitness and Strength workshops and clinics with Lottie & Estelle
A Special Injury and Sports Therapy Coaches' Corner with Catherine
Plus a Free BBQ!
PLUS…
Atlantic Osteopaths are offering free 10min treatments during ARC's Member Appreciation Day. Make sure you pop over to their studio (the Old Clubhouse near Outdoor Court 1) to book yourself in during the afternoon.
Summer Tennis Open 2023
ARC Summer Open
The ARC Summer Open for Adults and Juniors continued this year in its usual week. And what a week in the sun came our way! There were 30 different events, 9 days of competition, 200 entrants, over 400 matches played and competitors aged from 6 to 80! The week began with Mens and Ladies Vets doubles on a very hot May afternoon. U8 doubles attracted just 2 pairs, most of whom were playing their first doubles competition of their life! What a final it was! The enthusiasm was contagious and competitiveness ran high as the tiebreak was finally decided on 10-8. If you want to see good volleying, come and see these children in action when they play in another event! On a similar theme there were also U9 and U10 doubles. Thursday saw 60 children U10 on site for all the singles events, and for the first time ever we were able to have separate boys and girls events these could not have happened without the help of our great team of Junior volunteers who were on court scoring: Nick, James, Lucas, Ryan, Heidi, Jayden, Arlo, Jack, Michael and Euan.
Events for older juniors were well supported and the compass draws meant that everyone found their own level in the end. It was great to attract enough girls to hold both singles and doubles events this year. Children travelled from as far away as the Lake District, Wales and Kent to compete here. A record 35 children from ARC entered
ARC players who claimed trophies:
U8 Singles Winner Boris Lobato RU Marlow Murray
U8 Doubles Winners Henry Maukonen & Zeon Storkey RU William Lethem Gent & Oli Wild
U9 Doubles Winners Boris Lobato and Rufus Underwood
U10 Boys Singles RU Iseo Gould
U10 Girls Singles Winner Amelia Crighton
U10 Doubles Ru Amelia Crighton & Iseo Gould
U12 Girls Singles RU Heidi Clarke
U14 Girls Doubles Winners Lily Bridger & Heidi Clarke
U16 Boys Singles RU Euan Greenslade
U18 Boys Doubles RU Euan Greenslade
Winsome Trophy for Most Improved and successful ARC Junior in this tournament Boris Lobato
The adult tournament did not disappoint with its late night doubles of a very high standard, spectators wrapped in blankets and the toasties and drinks going down well. Again competition was fierce, both from the home club and visitors from away.
ARC players who won trophies:
Mens’ Singles Lewie Parker
Ladies Singles RU Niamh Ramsay
Mens Doubles Winners Dan & Alex Grigg RU Dan Lobato
Ladies Doubles Winners Lottie Miles & Niamh Ramsay RU Sue Donegan
Mens Vets’ Singles RU John Norman
Mixed Doubles Vets’ Winners Ian Leonard & Cath Andrews RU Phil Yabsley
Ladies Vets’ Winner Sue Donegan RU Sarah Powell & Marian Vinall
Mens Vets’ Winners Dave Thresher & Phil Yabsley RU Simon Trapnell & Martyn Beer
Junior Sportsmanship award – Troy Eales & Noah Williams
If you missed out on all the fun this time, make sure you enter the next weeklong tournament which is the ARC Winter Open October 21st to 29th – save the date now!
Remember all events are either Compass Draw or Round Robin so you get to play 3 or 4 matches and only need to commit one or 2 days/evenings!