A SPECIAL tennis league is being set up to get girls back into the sport.

The mini-league for girls up to the age of eight is being established across the North-East and will run until March.

The Lawn Tennis Association, in partnership with Great British Tennis Girls, is setting up the mini-league following a decline in the number of girls playing tennis, with a 55 per cent fall in Durham and Cleveland and a 44 per cent drop in Northumberland.

The event is supported by Helen Cook the founder of Great British Tennis Girls.

She said: “We are delighted to get this pilot off the ground and hope we will be able to replicate this in other areas.

“If we don’t intervene, the impact for the game’s future will ultimately see less and less girls competing, which impacts both the participation and performance pathways.”

The fun league uses sponge balls and mini courts, with certificates and prizes awarded at each event.

In the Durham and Cleveland area, the league will take place on January 25 and March 15 at the Durham University Campus in Thornaby, Teesside and on February 22 at the David Lloyd Club in Teesside, from 10am to noon each day.

In the Northumberland and Newcastle area the league will take place on January 18 and March 1 at the David Lloyd Club in Gosforth and February 14 at the Sunderland Tennis Centre.

An end-of-league event will be held at Sunderland Tennis Centre on Saturday, March 21 at 10am.