About the club
Badgers Tennis Club is a small but delightful club in a “secret garden”, in the centre of Kemp Town Brighton Sussex. The club has four superb all-weather courts with three floodlit for evening play. Players of all standards are welcome and are well catered for with social club sessions, coached courses, drop-in groups, and training squads. Our coaches are also available for private lessons.
Clubhouse & facilities
The Badgers clubhouse is an amazing space for members to enjoy when not out on court.
There’s a fully equipped kitchen which serves up fresh coffee, teas and snacks along with a fully licensed bar. Plenty of comfy seating, tables and chairs and a TV are located in the main area with doors leading out to pretty gardens with lawns and beautiful flowers and shrubs.
The clubhouse is wheelchair-accessible and has a disabled toilet.
Social events are organised by the club throughout the year, including quiz nights, wine tastings, and bbqs alongside tournaments aimed at bringing all ages together for fun tennis.
The purpose-built clubhouse is also popular as a venue for parties, weddings and meetings. (Please click here for further information and details of how to hire the space?)
Things were different in 1895...
Among the oldest in the country, our club started life as the Kemp Town Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in 1895. A monthly subscription cost a modest £1 4s, but children, dogs and play on Sundays were banned.
Taking tea has been a favourite pastime since the earliest days – when members could bring their footman with a hamper! But the demand for refreshments was so brisk that in 1911 the club engaged “Mrs Miles and a maid” to provide the teas and cake.
During the First World War, wounded officers convalescing by the sea played here to help their recovery. But in the Second World War, the “Dig for Victory” campaign saw some of the courts turned into vegetable plots.
Financial problems sadly closed the original members-run club in the late 1990s, but it soon re-opened with a new name (Badgers Tennis Club) – after a family of nocturnal visitors that were intent on digging up the grass courts.
Now, the club is back to its peak with more than 200 members and lots of exciting plans for the future.
Badgers and the community
Badgers became a members’ run club again in 2013, since when the aim has been to make it a vital part of the community and a place where anyone of any age or ability can feel welcome while enjoying a game of tennis.
In 2018 the club was listed by Brighton Council as an Asset of Community Value in recognition of its vital role in helping to improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of East Brighton through activities such as Healthwalks, fitness classes and the offer of free tennis sessions to local children attending the nearby Manor Gym.
Over the years the club has organised many events and initiatives aimed at involving the local community especially youngsters keen to try tennis.
The club also provides a valuable space for people to meet and for local clubs and organisations to hold meetings and events. It has hosted many fitness classes including yoga, pilates and – a recent addition –TRX sessions.