BOLTON Arena tennis coach Jim Edgar is set to play a major part in shaping the sport in Britain.

The 43-year-old will be at the forefront of the challenge to continually improve the standards of the country's coaches.

Edgar, who has been a full-time coach for 22 years and has been at the Arena since it opened in 2001, has been elected chairman of the British Tennis Coaches Association.

His role will involve travelling around the country to keep the BTCA's 3,000 coaches ahead of the game regarding coaching techniques.

He said: "We will have roadshows going to every county to give coaches a three-hour training session looking at anything that has changed in the game.

"Tennis has changed a lot over the last 15 to 20 years in a number of ways, such as the grip.

"Our sport is continually changing, more so than many others, and we will keep bringing coaches up to date with those changes so they have the tools to teach the latest crop of kids in the right way."

He expects the job to involve around five days' work a month, but it will not affect his position at Bolton Arena where he has a number of national and international ranked players in his ranks.

"It is a three-year position," he said. "But if, at the end of that time, nobody stood for the job, I would continue.

"As an organisation, we want to serve the interests of tennis coaches, help them to gain solid coaching foundations and be their main source of help, information and advice."

The new role will add to Edgar's already impressive CV which includes having coached 18 players who have gained world ranking at senior level and having had a player at Wimbledon every year between 2001 and 2006.