A sports enthusiast, Sophie Smith has an established fondness for netball, badminton and rounders. But the 14-year-old was unsure whether tennis was really for her when she first held a racket during PE lessons.
When she noticed that her local football club Wigan Athletic were offering tennis sessions, she decided to join in and give it a try.
Wigan Athletic Community Trust's programme is part of the Premier League Tennis initiative, which uses the appeal of professional clubs to inspire young people to get involved in different sports.
"I thought I could give it a go after school," says Sophie. "I thought it would be quite fun and I could learn different skills and play games - things we don't do in lessons.
"At the start we went through the basics, getting used to the rules. As we've kept progressing every week we've been playing matches, starting off with singles, then doubles."
Nine months after joining the programme, Sophie has made great strides and has developed a real enthusiasm for tennis.
"At the start of October I wasn't very good at all but now I feel I've progressed and done so much better," she says.
"It's amazing how much I've improved, just coming to the sessions and learning new skills, then building up until I can finally play doubles matches.
"I'm quite a sporty girl so I do loads of different sports and it's nice to learn new ones.
"When I was in Year 7 and 8, I wasn't a massive fan of tennis - when we did it in lessons I thought, 'do I really like this?'. But now I've done this, I really like it.
"Having a football club running the programme is quite cool. It's better to learn from someone who trains people more in football and tennis, rather than having teachers teaching us. It feels like I'm learning tennis properly.
"My sister and I started first and I recommended this to two of my friends as well. Now they come and have a lot of fun too. I'd recommend it to other people."
Sophie will have the chance to show off her skills on Thursday when she heads down to London to represent Wigan Athletic in the national Premier League Tennis tournament, which will be held at the Lawn Tennis Association's national tennis centre in Roehampton, London.
"I'm really excited, I can't wait," she says. "It was quite a shock when I was chosen for the team because I've never played any sport at all so far away from where I live.
"It's going to be quite exciting to play other people from around the country. It will be quite cool to be able to play other people and see their abilities.
"It's exciting to be able to go to the national tennis centre too because I've heard of it a lot. It's always mentioned on TV."
