FIVE young Tim Henman wannabes will be joining the David Lloyd Leisure coaching programme after being unearthed at their recent Open Day at Frogmore Lane in Southampton.

It is a nationwide David Lloyd programme, which aims to identify and nurture young talent.

Seven-year-olds Ben Lodge and Olivia James, Lewis Walsh, eight, Luke Newman, nine, and Richard Bekoe, seven, have been offered a year's free lessons and coaching at the Southampton club, after they showed exceptional promise at the open day.

David Lloyd Leisure's unique approach to identifying talent is to seek out children who, through hand-eye co-ordination, athleticism and positional awareness, show a natural affinity for racquets sports, and are not necessarily pre-trained or experienced in the game.

Racquets manager Brian Linskey said: "The principal aim of our 'Search for a Star' Open Day was to promote tennis, and encourage children of all abilities to pick up a racquet and enjoy this healthy, fun and sociable sport. We were delighted to see over 5,000 children across the country participating, some of them for the very first time!

"But we were also pleasantly surprised to see how much talent some of the chil-dren have and we hope, with our exper-tise, to help them realise their full potential. Who knows where it will lead?"

David Lloyd Leisure runs a permanent programme, the biggest junior tennis programme in Europe, attracting thousands of young players every year.

These junior sessions are available to all children from the junior community, not just club members.