All tennis clubs in the UK operate in a similar way and will first and foremost, try to ensure that the tennis court playing surfaces they have are safe and suitable for players to play the game. Some tennis clubs also have larger clubhouse or centre facilities to maintain and keep up to standard, and this all comes at a cost.
Each tennis court playing surface will have a lifespan of between 10-15 years, however this is totally dependent on the type or surface, the impact of the weather on that surface, and the frequency of playing on that surface. If a tennis court is outside and played on a lot through the entire year, it won't last as long as a tennis court that isn't played on as much. Tennis courts can cost between £12-20k to replace depending on the surface type (tarmac / acrylic / astro-turf, indoors / floodlit / non-floodlit etc), so each tennis club works hard to generate enough capitol to resurface their courts approximately every 12 or so years. The primary means of this capitol generation is through membership to the tennis club. In most cases, if membership isn't a requirement to play then the facility will be local authority owned and/or funded. In these cases, the tennis court playing surface of the facility quality may not be as high.
Most tennis clubs above a certain size will have a coaching programme run/owned by a head coach or coaching company. Generally the head coach or coaching company will pay a rental to the tennis club however in tennis clubs where it's owned/run by the local authority, a head coach or tennis manager may be employed to run the coaching programme. In many cases the tennis coaching programme is a separate entity to the club which is why players and parents may have to pay for tennis club membership and tennis coaching fees seperately.
In all situations where a tennis club membership is required, each member will be able to have membership rights. Depending on the the club, this will usually mean access to book tennis courts at no cost (indoor courts will usually be chargable) along with acess to club facilities, member only events and club tournaments.
This hopefully gives a clearer insight into why tennis club membership is required for most tennis clubs alongside the tennis coaching course fee. However if players/parents have any questions, they always contact their tennis club or can get in touch with us via our Contact Us form.