Over the past 12 months, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to spend my university placement year working for Active Away, as Marketing Executive, and Tennis Holiday Coach and Host.
Having already been a coach for Active Away for the past 2 years prior to taking the role, having spent about 15 weeks abroad on the tennis holidays and having done about the same amount of UK clinics, I felt I knew the company fairly well, I knew a lot of the people already, and how things worked on court, which was a really good starting point for me. Despite this I still didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into!
Since then I’ve spent 21 weeks away, across 3 continents, taken over 20 flights, and met almost 1000 people through Active Away events over the past year. It’s been not only an incredible year of memories and stories, but also an invaluable year of learning both on and off court.
My first eight weeks in this role were spent abroad, coaching on our tennis holidays. I started with two weeks at our Beach Club resort in Mallorca, followed by three weeks at Ikos Aria in Kos, before hopping on a ferry across Turkey for three weeks in the stunning Liberty Lykia.
Hosting our tennis holidays is every bit as amazing as it sounds. It’s not just about waking up in a five-star resort every morning to enjoy an incredible breakfast and stunning views—it’s everything else that comes with it that makes this job truly special. Highlights of the 8 weeks included paragliding at Oludeniz, the world’s fourth best spot for paragliding, day-off road-trips around Kos and jet skiing and boat trips at Liberty Lykia.
The camaraderie among the coaches at Active Away is unlike anything I’ve experienced in other workplaces. The teamwork, laughs, and shared memories during our holiday seasons are what make us all love the job so much, and I believe this is reflected in the passion, energy, and enthusiasm we bring to the court.
The connections I made during the tennis holiday seasons over the past year —with my coaching colleagues, our clients, and even the hotel staff—were truly special. You meet so many people from all walks of life, and listening to their stories is something I massively appreciate when working away on our tennis holidays. Every week abroad brings something new and different – the people we meet, the places we visit, and the experiences we share.
For me, these weeks combine three of my biggest passions: tennis, people, and travelling. Being surrounded by and learning from some of the best and most experienced coaches creates an environment where we can continually improve what we do and how we do it. The most rewarding aspect of the holidays, however, is the impact we have on our clients. We welcome solo travellers, couples, and larger groups on our holidays, and by the end of the week, everyone merges into one big group—not just on the court, but off it as well. Watching our clients improve their tennis while having such a great time is incredibly fulfilling, and it’s another reason we all love doing this job.
After returning home, and re-entering the ‘real world’ and to the reality of my slightly less glamorous life in my student house in Sheffield, I got stuck into the other half of my job.
My primary role when back in the UK, was to put together and manage our two primary marketing campaigns, as well as to look after our website’s blog and parts of our social media accounts. The role made me really appreciate the day to day operations within a company such as Active Away and gave me an invaluable opportunity to learn what is required to play a key role in a growing business and gave me an idea of the fast-paced and dynamic nature of the working world! Adjusting to this fast-moving environment was a challenge at first, but with the supportive and experienced team that Active Away have, I was able to grow and thrive within my role and build confidence quickly.
My first major project was delivering our 2024 Final Call campaign, a campaign offering our community a final opportunity to book a 2024 event with exclusive discounts. This meant creating a string of emails, and coordinating social media posts advertising our discount codes, our upcoming events and what Active Away is all about.
Throughout the 3 or 4 months of creating, managing, and running this campaign, I was able to develop my skills in multiple areas, from using a variety of different communication softwares to the ability to communicate and coordinate with my colleagues. The proficiency gained from the considerable amount of time spent on these softwares, has also proved transferable across other digital platforms. The process of delivering campaigns such as the Final Call also teaches you multiple priceless lessons, from the importance of early and clear communication with the team, time management and prioritising of tasks.
One of the most exciting parts of the year for myself and for Active Away was the addition of Jamie Murray to our team! Jamie Murray joined Active Away back in December as our Brand Ambassador and helped us to design our new tennis programme. The tennis programme, which we have since rolled out on our Spring Tennis Holidays this year and across our UK clinics over the summer, was designed by Jamie and our team of coaches led by Matt Allen earlier this year and incorporates a combination of both technical and tactical aspects of doubles which our clients and coaches have loved! In April we had a media day with Jamie at St Georges Hill Club in London, at which we had the opportunity to chat with Jamie and pick his brains about his remarkable doubles career. The day was yet another fascinating insight into business operations and how a media day is organised, set up and delivered.
One of the most memorable experiences of the year was travelling to Dubai in November, where I spent two weeks at the JA Lakeview Resort hosting our tennis holidays alongside one of our directors, Steve Davies. Our time in Dubai was absolutely unforgettable, filled with amazing memories both on and off court. From forging so many great personal and professional connections, as well as going up the Burj Khalifa, enjoying yacht trips through the stunning Dubai Marina and chatting to top 25 player, Karen Khachanov at the hotel.
In March, I was also fortunate enough to visit Egypt, where we hosted just our second-ever tennis holiday at the stunning Cleopatra Resort. The coaching team and I flew out a few days early to explore Cairo before the week of tennis. We visited the iconic Pyramids of Giza, walked along the Nile, and immersed ourselves in a city unlike anything I had ever experienced. Following our time in Cairo, we headed down to Hurghada to host the tennis week, which also featured the exciting launch of our brand-new Jamie Murray Programme. The opportunities to visit these unique and iconic parts of the world really were the most incredible experiences and ones for which I will always be grateful for.
Before you know it it’s that time of year again! Time to jet off for another tennis holiday season, this time for 10 weeks. First, a 3 week stint at Paloma Orenda in Turkey, one of my favourite Active Away resorts and the resort at which I coached my first ever week. Then on to Daphnila Bay in Corfu, then on to Kos, for 2 weeks at the luxurious Ikos Aria. Then to Crete for 4 weeks at our Lyttos Mare, and Royal Mare resorts.
My week in Daphnila Bay was also my first week as a full host of the holiday which was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. The week came with numerous obstacles that needed to be overcome, from rescheduling session timings, organising an end of week trip to Corfu Town for dinner, delegating jobs to higher qualified coaches than myself, whilst ensuring that every guest had an unforgettable experience on and off the court. There were moments when the responsibility felt overwhelming, but pushing through those challenges, and seeing the guests have a great holiday makes all of the hard work worth it!
From a being student with a very limited understanding of how businesses operate to knowing what it takes to work for a high performing company, the past year has provided me with an invaluable insight into the complexities of running a successful business and experience of working alongside experienced professionals has equipped me with the skills and the confidence necessary to tackle upcoming challenges both in my final year at university as well as future job roles.
The opportunity to spend lots of time with Josh, Matt and Steve, Active Away’s three directors, taught me so much, and the opportunity just to listen to them share their knowledge, stories and advice on founding, running and growing a company was fascinating and so insightful.
The pressures and importance of work deadlines when playing a key role for a business is so different to that of the deadlines at university that I was previously used to. Giving me a really important sense of perspective and made me improve my proficiency in meeting deadlines and working as part of a team. The opportunity to work as part of a small, yet high performing team, like that of the Active Away team gives a really interesting insight into how a business operates as well as understanding the key roles that consistent and clear communication play in a busy and high performance business. It has been encouraging to see the value and importance placed on creating a positive and supportive working environment, and the way in which the company makes each and every member of its team feel valued and appreciated. All of these skills, from IT and marketing skills, to time management, communication and teamwork will give me a huge advantage going into my final year of University this September.
Throughout the year, our core team of tennis holiday hosts and coaches had several Host Training Days at which we discussed how we can further improve how we do things. The opportunity to be surrounded again by the wealth of experience that many of the Active Away team bring was invaluable and it was a chance to exchange ideas, and work out different ways that we can improve our processes. This again was so encouraging, seeing the time and effort that Active Away put into continuously striving to improve and innovate the way we do things and make our client’s experiences even better down to every last detail, from how we present on court, to the ways we operate behind the scenes.
The past year really has been nothing short of incredible. A life-changing experience that I would recommend to anybody! Spending half of the year abroad, across 3 different continents, meeting so many amazing people, many of which will be lifelong friends, and developing invaluable skills both on and off the tennis court, it’s been an experience I will always be grateful for. From having very limited knowledge of the working and business world, to being familiar with the ins and outs of a growing company, a great understanding of marketing and its role and importance in a company, and being able to host tennis holidays the past year has taught me so much!
The community that Active Away has created really is unique and special. I’ll miss being part of the community on a daily basis but can’t wait to get back out on court when I can. In the approaching Autumn tennis holiday season I’m heading out for a week at Beach Club and Liberty Lykia and will want to be involved in our events and holidays for the foreseeable future.
I think you’d struggle to find a better placement year!
