Sports Minister visits National Tennis Centre for Disability Tennis Festival
The Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson, today visited the National Tennis Centre to take part in a Disability Tennis Festival celebrating one year since the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Community and performance players were in action in Roehampton showing the various adaptions of tennis now played across the country including wheelchair, deaf, learning disability and visually impaired tennis.
The Minister watched players showing off their skills as well as meeting a number of participants and partners that work with the Tennis Foundation and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to deliver disability tennis.
“The London 2012 Paralympics helped change people’s attitudes to disabled people and has strengthened disability sport at all levels in Britain. We are committed to offering more opportunities for disabled people to play sport and it is fantastic to see so many young people taking part in the Tennis Foundation's Disability Tennis Festival today,” said the Minister.
Also attending the Festival was Sport England Chief Executive Jennie Price and British Paralympic Association Chief Executive Tim Hollingsworth. Added Hollingsworth:
“Our wheelchair tennis stars have been successful members of the ParalympicsGB team, none more so than multi-gold winner Peter Norfolk who was the flagbearer for the British team at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Just one year on from that incredible event it has been fantastic today to see the full range of disability tennis activity supported by the Tennis Foundation and LTA. We hoped that the Paralympics would inspire more disabled people to get into sport, and maybe even the next generation of world class athletes. Days like today show how with the right support and facilities this is possible.”
Double Paralympic champion Peter Norfolk OBE was in attendance to inspire the next generation of tennis players.
“It’s fantastic to see the enthusiasm from the players on court today but also at my local club at Kingsley Tennis Centre where so many more people are coming along to play since the Games. Since I’ve stopped competing I’ve really enjoyed helping to grow disability tennis and I’m excited about working with the Tennis Foundation at events like these in the coming years and inspire new players.”
New for 2013, the Tennis Foundation has launched a Disability Tennis Road Show, which will be visiting seven venues later this month offering free disability inclusion training, sessions for schools and free come and try activity for the local community. Geoff Newton, Executive Director of the Tennis Foundation said:
“It’s such an exciting time for disability sport at the moment and we have seen a real legacy from the Paralympics with not only more people playing tennis, but more coaches, volunteers and venues wanting to offer disability tennis. Following the creation of 29 Disability Tennis Networks supported by the Tennis Foundation, participation in these areas has increased by 169% since January 2013 and we will be increasing the number of Networks to 39 from next month.”
For more information please contact:
Tennis Foundation Communications Manager
0208 487 7398
07506 881 047
